Notes and Roses
by Ninazadzia
Summary: Contestshipping. With every year, month, and day that passes, May's feelings for Drew evolve. This is the story of how she first fell for him, and how her feelings quickly blew out of proportion. Reader discretion advised. Pokeshipping/Penguinshipping undertones. *COMPLETE*
1. Prologue

**A/N**: Hello wonderful people. I initially wrote this chapter a year ago, so bear with me if there's a change in the style of writing in between the first two chapters. This is May's and Drew's story; it goes beyond what the show has given us to date on their relationship. I'm trying to keep them in character in the first few chapters, but after that you should start to notice some changes in their behavior. For now though, Drew is still as confident and critical as ever, though he actually is willing to admit his defeat; as the story progresses, Drew will be willing to admit more and more, *hint, hint.*

So, for now, please enjoy the first chapter of _Notes and Roses_

Prologue

It was a pretty long day for May.

May walked to the dock that overlooked the lake at Mt. Silver, feeling a need to just relax and reminisce about the events that had just occurred. She gently undid her shoe laces and took her socks off, letting her toes dip into the clear water beneath her. It was a little cold, but May dismissed that.

"Another failure," she said under her breath with a weak smile. As much as she didn't want to seem like the sore loser, she still balled her hands up into fists, and silently let all of her frustration out. It wasn't like her to ever get temperamental. Almost immediately, she felt a prick go through her skin.

"Shoot," she muttered under her breath to the stinging cut in her right palm; she'd forgotten the rose in her hand. _Roses have thorns, May, _she told herself with a faint smile. She examined her hand; it didn't look too bad. Sighing, she brought her attention back to the rose. She felt blood rush to her face, and she couldn't help but look down at the water in embarrassment. _It's not like it's the first rose he's given me, _she reminded herself. Well, sure, it wasn't the first rose; however, there was something new attached to it. May sighed to herself; on one hand, she desperately wanted to re-read the note that came with the rose, although she had already memorized it. She felt that if she didn't read it right at that moment, it would be like going without oxygen. On the other hand, she wouldn't dare move a muscle; she knew that reading it again was dumb since she could already recite it from memory.

"Why not?" she muttered under her breath as she reached for her bag. Digging under all of the junk that was sitting on top of the small sheet of paper, she managed to find the note. It was relatively short; all of two or three sentences. Still, May unfolded the note again and silently read it to herself.

May—

I know what you're thinking. We've all seen it before, and we know you have it in you. So stick to that.

- Drew

At first, she only had a vague idea of what he was talking about. But know things were more clear; today, May was all too close to the ribbon cup. And, of course, Drew had yet to be eliminated, and he—aside from Solidad—was probably the one person that could stand in between May and the finals. "Anyone but Drew," she had pleaded under her breath. Of course, her luck had it that she would somehow have to defeat Drew in the final four if she wanted any hope in making it to the finals. And, of course, Drew absolutely destroyed her in that battle. The final two was just around the corner, and then that ribbon cup would be as good as hers. But apparently, even when she thought that she was as good, if not better, than Drew, she slipped away. After those long hours of training, she still couldn't find it in herself to match up to her rival.

May snapped herself back to reality, feeling footsteps coming from further down the dock. They were even and light, and there wasn't any hesitation in them at all. She smiled to herself; of course, she knew exactly who was behind her; there was only one person that could walk with that kind of confidence.

"You aren't one to give notes," May sighed, feeling Drew's presence, "It's usually just a rose."

"Well, desperate times call for desperate measures," Drew weakly said. He sat next to her on the dock, all but four inches away.

"I thought I was ahead; honestly, I should have been the one going to the final two," she said. She felt her inner rival spark; she knew she could thank Ash for that trait.

"Well, you found your own style here in Jhoto, just as you wished . . ." Drew started, "But it looks like style replaced skill," he finished smoothly, nonchalantly brushing a lock of hair out of his face.

May turned to him. His eyes were sparkling, and his skin seemed to glow in the sunset. Sure, she wanted to protest to what Drew had just stated; she wanted to be able to call him a liar and to tell him wrong. However, she saw his point, and had no reason to object.

"You're probably right," May said in defeat. Drew could hear the hint of sadness in her voice.

"Don't be so hard on yourself," Drew exclaimed. "So you lost this ribbon cup to your rival, big deal," Drew said, "But so did I. Solidad crushed me in the final two, and you were there to witness it."

May briefly smiled. "Solidad. Seems like she's the other person, isn't she? The other person that's always sort of…"

"A threat?" May turned to Drew and saw his smug expression; his eyes were alive and bright.

May laughed lightly. "Well, she's as nice as threats get."

"Just because she's nice doesn't mean she isn't tough though," Drew said with a grimace.

May nodded, agreeing with him. "You don't have two tell me again…two ribbon cups in a row," May murmured, shuddering at how well Solidad had stomped on her at the Kanto grand festival.

"Well, don't forget; she's also four years older than us . . . wait, how old _are _you?"

"I turned fourteen a week ago," May replied.

"Well, happy birthday then," Drew stated, giving May a warm smile. May blushed and turned away from Drew; it wasn't like him to be gentle. Then again, now that Drew saw May more as an equal rather than some wimpy coordinator, he'd been a bit nicer. She hadn't gotten too much of a chance to see him throughout her journey in Jhoto; their paths hadn't crossed that much. May smirked to herself; one person her path had managed to cross with a few times too many was Harley. Having her luck, he was at nearly every one of her contests. May turned and looked at Drew again, who was now looking across the horizon to the setting sun. There was a glimmer in his eyes.

He took a deep breath. "Have you heard from Ash recently?"

May smiled a little. "Just turned seventeen; he's still running on energy from the Sinnoh league."

Drew nodded. "Must be happy after being runner up."

"Yeah. Dawn did well in the Grand Festival too."

"Dawn?"

May rolled her eyes. "Ash's new traveling companion."

"Oh." Drew hadn't torn his eyes off the horizon; his eyes were a little distant now. His entire expression now seemed flat, as if something had just crushed him. He was obviously thinking, and although May wanted nothing more than to get in his head, she decided it would be better to just keep her mouth shut. She seemed to do a pretty good job of that around Drew anyway; she was always very careful with what she said around. May never knew why; she just felt the need to be cautious. _You're just being dumb May, _she reminded herself, rolling her eyes at her stupidity. _Drew's you're…friend. _Friend. It seemed like a weird way to describe Drew; she was so used to seeing him on the battlefield, that whenever they spoke to each other when they weren't competing, things were always…somewhat strange.

It had been easier in the past, but with time, things with Drew just became more and more complicated. May knew that was just ridiculous; there wasn't any complication at all. There never had been. For some reason though, that's how May felt it was with Drew; complicated. She couldn't figure out why though.

May shook her head. _What are you thinking, May? _She smirked. Drew was her friend and rival; he could be both. There wasn't a single complication. _It's all in your head May, _she told herself. She turned and looked at Drew, who was still deep in thought. _It's all in your head, _she told herself again. 

Drew turned to May, his eyes now rock hard. "Do you miss traveling with Ash?"

May blushed a little; the question had caught her off guard. "Oh course I do. Well, sometimes…he was always very dynamic. I miss Brock's cooking too…but I also like traveling alone. It helps me get everything straight."

He raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

May shifted her weight. "I was influenced by Ash; that's why I decided to travel alone, so I could find my own style. Now that I'm by myself, I can actually think on my own rather than have Ash Ketchum change the way I think."

Drew laughed a little. "So you're trying to undo his damage?"

May blushed. "I never said that." Drew just shook his head.

"I'm just playing. I know what you mean; you're glad he helped you start, but you don't need his help anymore. You want to think on your own now."

May blinked, surprised at how much that summed everything up. "Yeah, you're right."

Drew laughed, and put his head down. May could have sworn he said "always am" under his breath.

May smiled and turned back to the horizon. When she wasn't trying to save herself in battle, she remembered how much she liked Drew; well, wasn't constantly criticizing her as well.

Drew suddenly stood up. He frowned as he saw the sun disappear behind the horizon. "I should probably get going," he said as he reached for his backpack, "Wouldn't want to miss my ship."

May heard herself groan. "Now where are you headed?"

Drew hoisted his back-pack up onto his back. "Back to Hoenn," he said smugly.

"Are you visiting family or something?" May asked curiously.

"I'm actually going to compete in the Hoenn Grand Festival."

"Again?" May asked, mildly surprised.

Drew shrugged. "I have to admit I miss Hoenn. It'll be nice to be home. Plus, the ribbon cup will be all mine," Drew added smugly, "Solidad is going back to Kanto."

May just stared at him, then looked back across the horizon. Drew's smile faded ad he read her expression, "You're going to stay here, aren't you?"

May sighed. "I have no idea. I was thinking of going to Sinnoh so I could see Ash, Dawn, and Brock. Or possibly Kanto; it would be nice to take a trip down memory lane. But Hoenn . . ." May trailed off shaking her head.

Drew smiled. "Well, I guess the next time I see you, you'll just have to show me one killer battle." Drew nodded his head, and turned around to walk down the dock. May let her eyes follow him. One he reached the edge of the dock, May felt an unexpected urge to run after him. She chuckled under her breath at that thought; _running after Drew like some sort of fan girl. Really, May? _

Still, she gave him a proper goodbye anyway.

"Bye Drew!" May called as she stood up, vigorously waving. And for the first time, Drew actually turned around to wave back at her. He was flushed bright red.

**A/N**: So yeah, I really hoped you guys enjoyed that! There should be some minor differences in the characters, but nothing too big just yet. (Notice how May is more embarrassed around Drew than usual.) The T stuff isn't going to be present for a while, so just sit back and enjoy the early stages for now.

To get your next chapter, give someone a hug. I'm not asking for reviews—though they are highly appreciated—but I am asking for you to spread a little love people

--Wild Promegraniiit


	2. Victory

**A/N: **Hello there everyone! I'm really into this story right now, so I hope you guys like it as much as I do. So, just a time check; the last time we saw May, she was fourteen years old and was in the shadow of defeat. She and Drew go their separate ways. Now, the story skips ahead a whole year; don't flame me just yet! May is now fifteen. Well, I could sum up the rest of it…but I think I'm just going to make you read the entire chapter. Enjoy!

Victory

May didn't know what could be better than achieving her dreams.

Hours after her victory, May was sitting in the Pokémon center at Mt. Silver. In her hands was the prized Johto Grand Festival Ribbon cup, still polished from her recent victory. She turned to her computer monitor; she had already received many congratulations. Ash, Dawn, and Brock had called her just moments before, right after hearing of her victory. Solidad was actually at the festival, though she wasn't competing, so she had the chance to congratulate May in person. Max—who was now a Pokémon trainer and well on his way to becoming a master—had spoken to her as well; he still couldn't get over the fact that he wasn't present to witness his sister's victory. Of course her family gave her a call as well, and even Harley had—very mockingly—congratulated her.

None of the calls were the ones she wanted though.

She stared at her computer monitor, ribbon cup in her hands. She tapped her nails against her bedpost, wondering exactly what she was waiting for.

"Of course I know what I'm waiting for," she whispered to herself, "I just don't get _why _I'm waiting for something that won't happen."

It was just so typical May; waiting around for something that probably wouldn't happen. Drew wasn't ever one to call when he heard of a victory; he was on of those 'too bad I didn't win' types. Then again, he had congratulated May in the past…but those were only minor victories compared to this one. Obviously, a victory like this would be hard for him to admit praise to.

After staring at her reflection on the dark computer for a moment, she sighed and got up from her bed. She gently placed her ribbon cup down, and felt the six pokeballs on her belt. On the chair next to the computer, her brown cargo bag was swung over ever so casually. Reaching for the worn out sac, she dug through her belongings to the bottom, and found what she was looking for. She reached out the piece of paper, now crumpled and bent from being unfolded and refolded so many times. Although the note had been memorized a long time ago, she re-read again:

May—

I know what you're thinking. We've all seen it before, and we know you have it in you. So stick to that.

- Drew

She sighed and refolded the note again, placing it back into her bag. She sat on the edge of her bead again, staring across the room and looking at her reflection again into the golden ribbon cup.

It was funny; she finally had what she wanted, yet for some reason, she didn't feel as she thought she would. Instead of feeling accomplished and proud, she felt…empty.

She knew why, of course. There wasn't any accomplishment that she had made; she defeated coordinator after coordinator, easily making her way to the final two. She couldn't even remember the name of the coordinator she had gone up against, and it was only a few hours later. And, now that she had what she wanted, she couldn't help but feel incomplete. There wasn't any rivalry in this grand festival; without Drew or Solidad in the game, it seemed almost as if she were the uncontested winner from the start. There was no motivation for her win; she used her skill and tactics to help her climb up to the top.

It was too easy.

She turned back to the blank computer monitor.

"Why should I expect a call?" she whispered to herself, then shook her head while faintly smiling. It had been a year since she had last seen Drew; one year since he had given her the note. Although she had won the grand festival, she realized that it was just so typical of Drew not to give her credit in her moment of glory. Of course; she'd been too dumb to remember that Drew was her rival, and that whatever she did, he would have to top. And, since he had yet to win a grand festival, it was all too normal that he wouldn't be happy. He wouldn't give May that kind of gratitude; knowing that she had prevailed over her rival.

May felt herself blush a bit; Drew. Just thinking about him brought color to his face; Drew and his roses. He always seemed so confident in himself and critical towards others, yet May had been one of the few people to ever see his soft side. And, of course, May couldn't help but feel some gratitude. She sighed, now flushed a deep shade of crimson. Images began to flow through her mind; some were of Drew giving her roses, others were of the times where they had to go their separate ways. Each and every time though, Drew had been the softie that he rarely ever showed. _Why can't you just be like that all the time…_

May snapped back to reality, realizing she had let her imagination get too far; she had soon pictured them holding hands on that same dock out in the Jhoto region, and Drew leaning towards her. May shook her head over and over again, trying to get rid of those thoughts.

"Gosh May, don't get carried away…" May shook her head again. She was being absolutely ridiculous. Drew was her friend; he always had been.

_Well…_ May thought that over again; there had been some complication between the two of them. Things had always been a little fuzzy; they started out as rivals, and nothing more. Drew had been the person that would always criticize May even when she won; as she got to know him more, however, Drew began to open up. May smiled and bit her lip, remembering of the day when Solidad told her how Drew cried after his first contest. _He's more insecure that he ever acts…_May nodded grimly though, remembering the time Solidad had defeated her in the Kanto Grand Festival. Now that she really thought about it, she couldn't entirely blame Drew for crying. Still, it didn't seem like something that he would ever do; either that, or Drew was very good at hiding his insecurities.

May sighed; it was a weird thing to think. _Drew…insecure? _

She shook her head, not wanting to believe that. Then again, in the past, she'd seen a side of Drew that very much showed how insecure he could be. He wasn't as cold as he appeared; May kept going back to the times when Drew had given her the help she needed to succeed, and proved that he was more than just a heartless coordinator. Surprisingly enough, Drew was sort of the person that brought May up to the next level; the person that made May say, _Okay, I've done this…now I've got to keep going so I don't fall behind him. _And, of course, that's just what she needed; she needed someone to keep the competition coming. Not someone so brutal that her confidence would collapse easily and make her give up, but not someone so easy that she would let her victories get the best of her. Drew was always a bit better than May, but sometimes, May was a bit better than Drew; how it played out depended on who had their emotions in check and who was a complete mess.

May smiled; now that she had thought about it, Drew's absence was just what she needed. Something to remind her that although she had one this battle, there would be many more to come; against Solidad, against Drew… Just because she won the ribbon cup didn't mean that she could slack off and take a break. She had to keep training and get ready for the next challenge.

May's lip curled up into a grin. "Whenever you're ready, Drew."

A/N: Dun dun dun, the drama! Well, not really…but oh well, you get it. So, as you can see, Drew isn't fooling May anymore; although he acts all high and mighty, she knows that he can be insecure and weak. Hmmmm….maybe there's a bit of foreshadowing there? I'm not saying any more than that.

In the next chapter, May will be sixteen; this is the last chapter that skips ahead a year for a while, promise! Until then, spread joy to everyone around you; it may be cold outside (at least it is up here,) but you have the power to add warmth to other people's lives!

…

Okay, that was corny, but…make the world better people.

--Wild Promegraniiit


	3. Memories

6

**A/N: **Bonjour! So, moving right along; May finally knows what success feels like. Good for her! The story continues to skip around; now, May is sixteen, and is back on the road in Hoenn. Enjoy chapter three!

Memories

May finally understood why Drew decided to go back to Hoenn.

With simply a bag, May stepped off the ship. Although she was drowsy, she was running on energy with the fact that she was back home. She nearly pummeled an elderly woman running off the ship in her excitement. _Get a grip, May _one part of her said. Of course, May decided to listen to the other part of her that was chanting, _what the hell? I'm home! _

She didn't feel like she was returning home; she felt like she had never left.

Walking the beach by Slateport City, the sun was beginning to set. May smiled at the horizon; she didn't know why, but sunset had become her favorite time of day. She walked along the shore, feeling some heat radiate from the warm sand beneath her shoes. As much as she wanted to just take her sneakers off and throw them in the ocean, she knew that she would need them once she got to Slateport. Despite the extreme humidity, May couldn't have been more comfortable. She was no longer in some alien region; she knew the Hoenn region well, considering the fact that she had grown up there. Hoenn would always be her home, no matter where her travels took her.

May frowned; _You're only stopping here, May. You aren't staying. _She sighed at that thought; as much as she wanted to, she knew that she would only be in the Slateport area temporarily. She would have to get back to competing eventually, and the Hoenn Grand festival just didn't seem like an option. She'd already been there and done that; she needed to move on. She'd told herself that many times when she was on her ship to Slateport City; "You're not staying May, it's only temporary. You're going to move right along and go back to the Kanto region. You're not staying…"

Of course, all it took was a step off the ship, and then she had already signed herself back to her home.

May continued to walk along the shoreline in high spirits. A few of the people passing her gave her a strange look and then whispered to the person next to them when they saw May; one person even went far enough as to point to her and whisper, "holy crap, she won the Jhoto League," to the very irritated girl next to them. She smirked in spite of herself. _Huh. Guess some people recognize me…_

May was mildly surprised that so many people had managed to recognize her; she'd won the Jhoto league an entire year ago, and people were still saying her name under their breath as she passed them. At first, May would blush in embarrassment; it seemed flattering. As time went on, however, May started to get bored and irritated; she liked the attention, but she didn't feel the need to have so much. It was only bad for the first few months; things had gotten better, but May still couldn't walk into a contest hall without being hounded by some aspiring coordinator that wanted her autograph.

_Get used to it May, _she told herself quietly, _it's been a year, you already should be._

May smiled; in that year, she went from a hardly known small town coordinator to a having her small bit of fame. She didn't know if it was the fact that she had destroyed—not just beaten—the other contestants, or if it was just like that for every coordinator that had managed to win the grand festival. May shook her head; no, it hadn't been like that for every coordinator that came out on top…not even Solidad, who had now won two grand festivals, had gotten as much attention as May had.

May took the Jhoto region by storm; and, by the looks of it, the Hoenn region too.

She smirked; _this must be killing Drew…_She sighed after that in sadness though; she hadn't heard from her rival in a little over two years. She would think about him from time to time, but she tried to avoid the thought of him for the most part. Right after her victory in Jhoto, May had thought about Drew a lot…as the weeks went on though, Drew slowly moved to the back of her mind. From time to time he would pop up again, but May managed to keep herself distracted and didn't think about him that much. For a long time now, Drew just stayed in the back of May's mind.

May continued to walk, letting her mind wander away from Drew. She didn't want to think about him. Instead, she thought of her game plan; what she would do now that she had won the Jhoto Grand Festival. She hadn't been to a contest since, so she just spent most of her time traveling again through the Jhoto region and meeting up with people she had met on her travels. She met up with her brother, now fourteen, in Sinnoh, and while she was there she also visited Dawn, Ash, and Brock. May smirked; her reunion with Dawn had been quite memorable. While Max, Ash, and Brock decided to go to the Sinnoh safari zone, Dawn and May had opted for a girl's day out. Dawn, now being fourteen, gave May the breather she needed; the two tried to stay on the topic of coordinating, but as the day went on, they began bringing up some other things.

"So, how's Ash been?" May asked, turning to Dawn. The two were right outside of a pastry shop. Dawn had managed to convince May to pay for an outrageously large apple tart, and although May had promised herself not to have more than a bite, she surrendered once her lips touched the pastry. The tart one her over.

Dawn gave May a knowing smirk. "Gym wise or girl wise?"

May whipped her head back to Dawn; she'd been traveling with Ash for four years now. Although Ash was now nineteen, May couldn't wrap her head around what Dawn had just said. It just didn't apply to Ash.

"What do you mean?" May asked slowly, putting her slice of the tart back into the greasy cardboard box it came in.

Dawn beamed, happy to be able to share that piece of gossip. "Oh, you know Misty, the Cerulean gym leader?"

May nodded slowly, "I've met her before. She and Ash used to travel together."

Dawn nodded quickly. "Well…we actually stopped by the Cerulean gym a little over a month ago. I hadn't met her before that, and well, she obviously influenced Ash a lot…I just had to meet her eventually."

May looked at Dawn, confused. "You hadn't met her before that?"

Dawn shook her head. "No, but that's not important." Dawn gave May a knowing smirk, "The two seem to have…a spark, I guess."

May thought that over; after traveling with a girl-clueless Ash for a little more than three years, it was hard to imagine that Ash had finally managed to learn something. Even after traveling with someone like Dawn for so long, Ash just always seemed too…downright stupid. _Guess Dawn was able to penetrate his thick skull…_

"So, what happened?"

Dawn beamed and began telling May of how "flirtatious" the two had been. Although in May's view it wasn't exactly too flirtatious the way Dawn had described it, any kind of interaction like that for Ash was a big deal. Dawn explained how Ash would keep glancing over his shoulder to look at Misty while she blushed and told Ash to knock it off. The two were always by each other, and were jittery whenever they weren't…one time, Ash even argued with Brock so he could get to sit next to Misty on the bus back to the Cerulean gym.

"You're kidding," May said, in awe. Dawn nodded, absolutely exuberant.

"It's true. Brock even said to Ash, 'Look's like someone's anxious to sit next to his female friend.'"

May dropped her piece of tart in shock. "What did Ash say to that?"

Dawn smirked, and let May hold her breath for a minute; May could tell that this was the dead giveaway to Ash's and Misty's so called spark.

"He simply said, 'Maybe I am.' Then, Ash shoved Brock away from his seat and sat right next to Misty. She was about as red as a Magikarp."

May sat back on the bench, letting that fact process. For once, the ever girl-clueless and slow Ash Ketchum hadn't denied that he had feelings for someone. From what Dawn had said, it became obvious to May that Ash truly had feelings for Misty, just as Brock had teased him for.

"Do think they'll end up together?" May asked calmly, despite her shock.

Dawn shrugged. "It's too soon to tell. From the looks of it though, this is probably the only time Ash has ever shown feelings for someone. You know how he gets."

The two laughed lightly, returning to their apple tart and sharing their memories of Ash. May told Dawn about how Anabel reacted to Ash at the battle tower, while Dawn told May of times when they were mistaken to be a couple. The two laughed at the stories, and they stayed on that topic for a long time. After a while though, Dawn finally got around to the question that May had been dreading, yet the one that she knew was unavoidable.

"How's Drew?" Dawn softly asked. May turned a deep shade of red and looked off into the horizon, not wanting to meet Dawn's gaze.

"I haven't seen him since the Jhoto grand festival two years ago," she said flatly. Dawn didn't question May any further on that topic. Dawn went back to talking about Ash's rivals, Paul and Barry. May quickly found herself disliking Paul and laughing at how much of a hyperactive trainer Barry was. After a while, May noticed that Dawn got this glimmer in her eyes every time she talked about Barry. As the stories continued, May was itching for a break in the conversation so she could ask Dawn about Ash's ADD rival.

"What do you think of Barry?" May asked lightly. Dawn answered her question with ease.

"Oh, he's actually a really good trainer. He gives Ash a run for his money," Dawn said with a smile. May shook her head though.

"That's not what I meant Dawn."

"Then what are you…" Dawn's voice trailed off, realizing what May was asking. She suddenly laughed, and looked back at May.

"Me? Like _Barry?_" She laughed again, this time shaking her head, "we're friends, that's all." Suddenly, May noticed that Dawn was now blushing. Initially, May thought that Dawn had been lying about her feelings for Barry. As she thought about it more deeply though, it occurred to May that bringing up Dawn's love interest could have reminded her of someone else.

"Is there anyone else, then?" May asked gently. Dawn turned a deep shade of red.

"Well…"

"I don't mean to pry," May said quickly, realizing that what she was asking could have been very personal. Before May could continue, Dawn quickly shook her head.

"Oh, no May, it's fine. I actually think I need to tell someone; it's been on my chest for a while, and if I told the boys, they wouldn't ever live it down. I trust you though."

May nodded confidently. "I won't say anything."

Dawn slowly took a deep breath, waiting. "Well…there is this one other coordinator. I've known him since we were little, and we've sort of been rivals. His name's Kenny."

May nodded. The way Dawn phrased her explanation reminded May of Drew. Instantly, color went to her face, and thoughts of them flew through her head. She tried to snap herself out of it. _May, c'mon, he's your friend._

"Do you think he sees anything in you?" May asked slowly.

Dawn blushed a bit. "I don't really know…I mean, I guess he _might…_but I doubt it."

May brought herself back to reality, seeing to the fact that the rest of her conversation with Dawn that day had little importance. She continued to walk along the beach, letting her eyes follow the shape of the shoreline. Suddenly, May noticed that up ahead was a fairly small wooden dock. It was a little rickety, and barnacles lined the underside of it. May's mind flashed back to the last time she had seen Drew in the Jhoto region. Although the dock there was much bigger and more stable, it was still a dock like the one that was now thirty feet away from her. She couldn't remember much of what had happened that day; it was a bit of a blur. She remembered what was important though; Drew had told May that he was going to the Hoenn region and was competing in the Hoenn grand festival.

May sighed; here she was, back in the Hoenn region. She didn't know if Drew was still here, or if he had moved on…what mattered was the fact that there was a possibility that at any given moment, May had a chance of running into Drew. She quickly shook her head at that thought; _he was here two years ago; he's probably moved on. Even if he didn't, Hoenn is a big region…_ May told this to herself again and again. Her chances of seeing Drew anytime in the near future were quite slim. Drew was one of the few people that she hadn't kept in touch with since her first time in the Jhoto Grand festival; she wrote and spoke to Solidad every once in a while—which reminded her that they were overdue for a battle—and even Harley took the liberty of checking in on her every few months. As for Drew though, May hadn't heard from him; he had never so much as sent her a single letter.

"Well," May whispered to herself. There had been _one _letter that Drew had given to her; it was the same letter she had gotten that day when they had went separate paths, nearly two years ago. Along with the letter was also a rose.

May suddenly felt a sense of déjà vu; she hadn't yet passed the dock. Maybe, if she were to sit down at the edge of the dock, and re-read the note that was at the bottom of her bag at the moment, Drew would show up—just as he had two years ago.

It wall all so simple; everything was laid out in front of her. She had the dock, and she had the letter. Sure, she didn't really need to read it since she could already recite the letter from memory, but May wanted to re-read it. For some uknown reason, the letter meant a lot to her; so much that she had kept it in her bag for the last two years. May suddenly felt a wave of panic wash over her; she could have lost it in her travels. The last time she looked at that letter was over a year ago; she surely could have misplaced it. May stopped in her tracks, right in front of the dock, and searched through her bag for the note from Drew. Underneath all of her belongings, she reluctantly managed to find the sheet of paper. It was now slightly yellow from age, and it was crumpled and bent. May dropped her bag and held just the folded letter in her hands.

_Go on, open and read it _one part of her brain said. May bit her lip, taking an uncertain glance at the note. _No, _another part of her said, _it will just make things more confusing. Let him go. _

For the first time in nearly a year, May fully let herself think of Drew. Drew, her rival during her time in the Hoenn, Jhoto, and Kanto region. The arrogant yet somehow kind rival that pushed her to be the best coordinator she could be.

_I don't need Drew to make me be a good coordinator anymore, _May realized suddenly. Sure, Drew helped May; Drew helped May realize that although she was a good coordinator, there was still always room for her to be even better. Drew gave May the criticism she needed, while also giving her a helping hand every once in a while. The two went from pure rivals to…_friends, _for lack of a better word. May still couldn't really bring herself to call them friends; they skipped from a phase of being rivals to being…May couldn't think of a word. Friends didn't exactly seem appropriate, but it was the closest word May could think of. Her relationship with Drew had always been a bit confusing.

For the first time ever, May saw that she didn't need Drew as a rival anymore. Drew was obviously trying to move on; otherwise, he would have contacted her by now. May's success was proof of the fact that she no longer him as her rival. She was strong on her own; how else would she have been able to earn the Jhoto ribbon cup? She was still training her Pokémon, and although it had been a while since she had competed, she still felt strong on her own. _I'm a strong coordinator, _she quietly thought to herself. She grasped the note in her hand; since she had such a breakthrough, how come she felt the need to keep the note after over two years of seeing her former rival? Why would it hurt her so much to get rid of that note?

It scared May that she didn't know the answer.

She sighed and put the note back in her bag, purposely burying it under a heap of her belongings. She passed the dock, not daring to turn around and look back it.

As she passed the dock, the image of Drew was erased from her mind altogether, and she continued to Slateport city, thinking only of her Pokémon on the way there.

A/N: I know, I know; May's in Hoenn, and Drew possibly is too. You're all probably looking at the computer screen and going, "But _why? _Why didn't they meet up and fall in love already?! What blackened your soul, woman?!"

In due time, my readers, in due time. A few notable changes have occurred. May now has realized that she doesn't need Drew to help her become a good coordinator. She's past that. What she doesn't know is why she can't simply get rid of the note altogether. Sure, she doesn't read it…but is that enough?

Until then, to get the next chapter, go plant a tree or something…unlike many people, I don't believe in begging for reviews and threatening not to update without them. I believe to earn your next chapter, you should help others out. Bring peace people; bring peace.

Blessings,

--Wild Promegraniiit


	4. Chances

4

A/N: Ah, my wonderful readers! I decided that you all just got a huge insight into May's mind; now, this chapter will be a little different. This will be told from Drew's perspective, rather than May's. Although most of the story will be from May's perspective, a few of the chapters will be told by Drew. Read on!

--Wild Promegraniiit

Chances

Drew must have been having a bad day or _something. _

It wasn't unlike him to stock up on water when he knew he was passing through a dessert region later in the day; for some reason though, it slipped his mind completely to ask Nurse Joy for a few extra bottles of water before he set out on his journey. Drew mentally scolded himself, but kept walking. He felt some sweat roll down his back as he continued to walk in one hundred degree weather. He thought about taking his jacket off, but decided he didn't want to. He could handle a bit of heat.

Winning competition after competition in the Hoenn region had been such a breeze. Drew decided that in the end, he didn't even want to bother competing in the Hoenn grand festival. So, he set off to the Sinnoh region, hoping to get some decent competition. So far though, with three ribbons under his belt in three contests, he was disappointed. _What's it take to get a decent battle anymore? _He shook his head again, mentally scolding himself for not going through with the Hoenn grand festival; there was a possibility that there was some competition there. He continued to walk down the trail.

During the past two years, Drew hadn't been up to much; sure, he won five ribbons in the Hoenn region and sure, he was preparing to compete in the Sinnoh grand festival. That didn't matter to him so much anymore; he hadn't had a decent battle in a little over two years. He saw Solidad from time to time, but battling her was becoming a bore. He knew her tactics well by now, and could predict her moves with ease. He had almost beaten her once, but ultimately lost; just because battling Solidad was boring didn't mean she was any less tough. Besides Solidad, Drew didn't bother to go out of his way and challenge anyone else to battle him.

_You know someone that would give you a good battle, _Drew thought to himself. He sighed; as much as he didn't want to admit it, he was beginning to miss May, his former rival. The last time he had seen her was a little over two years ago. He knew that it was mostly his fault. He hadn't taken the time to figure out where on the planet she was, though it couldn't be that hard; May had become a success. Her face was plastered all over magazines and newspapers, and she was constantly in the newspaper headlines. Drew still didn't get why she was getting so much attention for winning one grand festival; after all, Solidad had won _two _and she hadn't gotten that kind of treatment. He still didn't know if May's success was real, or just something the media over emphasized.

One thing was obvious though; May had won the Jhoto Grand Festival.

Drew kicked a nearby stone in frustration with himself. _So, she won a grand festival before me. _He knew it was perfectly normal to feel jealous; surprisingly enough though, the feeling of jealousy passed quickly. He was only envious the first week or so after he had learned of May's success; rather than go obsessive compulsive on his training and challenge May to a battle like he normally would have, he simple just moved on and continued to the next contest. For some reason though, at that moment, Drew didn't feel jealous so much as he felt angry with himself; in May's brightest moment, he couldn't find it in himself to videophone her and to congratulate her. For some reason, he couldn't find that strength.

He sighed. _I'll admit it; I think about her. _In truth, Drew did think about May; not too frequently, but from time to time. He still couldn't grasp the reason _why _he thought about her though; sure, they had been rivals. Now though, she was just another coordinator. She shouldn't mean anything to Drew now; he should just be able to move on. They had been rivals for a while, and now they weren't. Drew should have been able to accept that fact and to continue with his life normally. Drew had been able to do one of those two things; he had indeed moved on with his life, trying to leave May out of it. He wasn't, however, ready to let her go. _Why, _Drew asked himself. He couldn't get why he couldn't get his mind off of her for more than short periods of a time.

During the time that Drew and May had known each other, Drew had initially viewed May as a weak coordinator that had a very long way to go. And, for a while, that was exactly how he saw her; just a weak coordinator. As time began to pass though, Drew realized that he maybe viewed May a bit differently than he had originally. As much as Drew didn't want to admit to it, May was…pretty. Drew blushed just thinking of that, but brought his emotions back into check. He hadn't seen her in over two years, after all; for all he knew, May could be fat and ugly. Still, he slowly began to form feelings for May; he still didn't exactly know what they were, but they were there. He would give her roses from time to time; again, he didn't exactly know why.

As Drew thought about May, he went back to what he had thought about earlier; how much he was in need of a real battle. Drew frowned; _battling May? _Almost as a reflex, he shook his head to that fact. So much time had passed since he last saw her…what would he have to expect? Would she still be the same May he had managed to—though it was hard to admit—grow feelings for? Or, would her success and fame have changed her? Setting the cons aside, Drew weighed them against the pros; for once, he would get a real battle. That much was certain, coming from a coordinator that had won the grand festival. Also, whether May had changed a lot or not, Drew would still get to see May. The more Drew thought about the second pro, however, the more he realized that it could also be more of a con.

Maybe it would be better for him to continue his life without May, as he had before. He wasn't quite sure what drove him to lose touch with May; maybe it was the fact that she had managed to become a success and he hadn't. Drew immediately knew that wasn't it; he hadn't spoken to May even before she had won the ribbon cup in Jhoto. Also, even when she had, Drew had managed to get over his jealousy quickly and move on. Suddenly, Drew had his answer. He had known all along why he hadn't spoken to May in so long.

He was afraid.

Not afraid of a battle; he would never be afraid of a battle from _May, _of all people. No, Drew was afraid of what could happen between the two of them. His relationship with May was always uncertain; the two were never exactly friends, but they weren't exactly rivals either. There was a sort of imbalance that Drew wasn't sure he would be ready to face. The best that could happen would be that May would be the same as she always was, and that everything would go back to normal. As for what the worst that could happen…Drew decided not to go there. He didn't want to make any assumptions too early. Drew knew one thing for sure though; as much as he didn't want to admit it, seeing May again could be a breaking point for him. He tried to careful with the way he acted around other people. May, however, was one of a few people to see and hear of his bad days; the days where he would break down and show who he really was. She'd seen his insecurities before.

Seeing May again could be dangerous for himself.

"The battle will have to wait," Drew mumbled to himself.

As Drew continued down the road, he kept his next contest in mind, trying—and failing—to dismiss the thought of running back to the Pokémon center and videophoning May, asking for a battle.

A/N: Shorter than usual, I know. I didn't feel the need for this chapter to be so long. For those of you that think I don't have a plan and that this story will just be a complete and total snore, you're very wrong. I know exactly where I'm going, and I know exactly how everything will end.

Okay, so now you've gotten an insight into Drew's mind; he's afraid to face May. When Drew's alone, you'll see that he really opens up. Hmmm….if only he could be like that around May…

Until then…just, um, donate money to charity or something…I don't know

xoxo,

--Wild Promegraniiit

Ps. By the way, as of right now, I have written up to I think chapter nine in this story, and am working on chapter ten. Updates are slow, I know, because I write this story hot off the press; I have yet to look through chapters 5-10. They spend a few days being brushed up in editing. I'm going to updating Sundays and Wednesdays (Thursdays being the alternative night for school work and junk.) Be sure to check back on Wednesday to see chapter five. Thanks!


	5. Reunion

5

A/N: Hey people. Now, the last you've heard, the story was from Drew's perspective. The story now skips ahead about half a year to May's reunion with Ash and Brock. Hmm, no Dawn? Well, let's figure that out…

Enjoy!

--Wild Promegraniit

Reunion

May was having a complete déjà vu.

She got off the ferry that had taken her from the Hoenn region to the Kanto region. Despite the long ride and May's proneness to being seasick, she was too excited to feel queasy for even a minute. As she ran down the stairs that lead to the ground with her bag on her back, she vigorously searched through the crowd for Ash and Brock. After a minute or two, she heard her name being called. She spun around and smiled, seeing a _very _tall Ash Ketchum waving for her. She ran forward to greet him and Brock.

"Hey Ash!" she yelled, giving him a hug. He blushed a little, but not as much as she had expected. She said hello to Brock as well, and gave him a hug as well. Before long, the three were talking about their journeys and exchanging stories.

"It was great! Barry really put up a fight, but I managed to beat him!" Ash continued to babble on his story of victory in the Sinnoh league, and how excited he was to finally get to compete in the champion league. Brock asked—repeatedly—how Solidad had been doing. May told him the she was fine, as always. Once Brock began to press for more—"Is she single? Has she mentioned me?—May decided it would be a good time to ask Ash about Dawn.

"So, how's Dawn doing?" May asked quietly. It had been a little over a year since May had last seen Dawn, and it didn't take long for May to notice that Dawn wasn't with Ash and Brock.

"Oh, she's going to compete in the Hoenn Grand Festival; she left just after I won the Sinnoh league," Ash explained. May looked at Ash carefully; he had changed since May had last seen him. For starters, Ash had grown and was easily six feet tall; he was also a bit more muscular than the last time she had seen him.

"So Dawn split from you guys?" May asked.

Brock nodded. "She wanted to try traveling on her own," he smirked, "though I don't think she's going to have much luck with that."

Both Ash and Brock chuckled under their breath, while May gave them each a confused look. "What do you mean?"

"Kenny's right on her tail," Brock explained. "He's not giving her a lot of room."

May nodded and smiled, remembering when Dawn had told May that she had feelings for Kenny. _Good for you Dawn, _May thought to herself.

"What have you been up to?" Ash asked May as they continued to walk the streets in search for a good restaurant.

"Oh, not too much," May replied. After being in the Hoenn region for three months, she had spent the other three traveling around on the road. "I haven't been in a contest in a long time, so I was hoping I could go back to coordinating."

Ash and Brock nodded. May looked at the two of them, and for the first time since she had arrived to visit them, there seemed to be a hint of sadness in their expression. She thought about what it could be; Ash should be bouncing off the walls, having just won the Sinnoh League after his second try there and after having been just accepted into the champion league. Then, May remembered that Dawn had just recently left the two of them.

"Do you guys miss Dawn?" May asked, touching Brock's arm. Brock sighed, and Ash slowly nodded his head.

"It's gets a little lonely without her," Ash said slowly.

May nodded, though she couldn't really understand how the two of them felt; she had been the one to leave them, not the other way around.

"So, May…where are you going to compete now?" Brock asked, changing the subject.

May was speechless, realizing that she had no idea. She thought of her options; the only region she had yet to compete in was the Sinnoh region. Despite that fact, May didn't really feel too much of a motivation to compete there.

"I honestly don't know," she said with a laugh. "I guess it would be nice to compete here, now that I think about it." May looked around the streets; it was good to be back in the Kanto region after so long. The last time she had been there was easily three or four years ago; she had still been traveling with Ash and Brock and her brother at the time.

The three had finally managed to choose a restaurant. As they sat down in the booth, Ash suddenly bolted upright.

"You know, I just had an idea," he said quickly with a smile. May looked at him, confused.

"What is it Ash?"

He spoke quickly, hardly able to contain himself. "You said you wanted to compete in Kanto grand festival again, right?"

May nodded slowly, not quite getting what Ash was saying just yet.

"Why don't you travel with us again? The champion league is in the Kanto region, after all."

May thought that over. "Shouldn't you be challenging the Elite Four in the Sinnoh region?"

Ash shrugged. "Hey, this is where they sent me, isn't it? If they want me to challenge the Kanto Elite Four, then that's what I'll do."

May nodded slowly, thinking of what Ash had just asked her. When she had been traveling on her own, things had gotten a little lonely at times; that wasn't to say that she didn't like traveling by herself, she did. Sometimes though, she wish she hadn't made that decision to split from Ash and Brock. And, here she was, in the Kanto region and being offered an opportunity to travel with her old companions again. Not only would it help her through her contests, but it would just be more _fun _in general.

"That actually sounds like a good idea," May beamed. "For old time's sake, why not?"

"Sounds great May," Brock said, giving her a smile.

It all happened very quickly; May went to the Chrysanthemum Island Contest hall, and renewed her Kanto region Contest pass. Once Ash and May had managed to pry Brock away from Nurse Joy, they asked her where the next Pokémon contest would happen to be. She directed them to Saffron City, and before May knew it, the three began their journey; again.

The entire time on the road that day to Saffron city, May had been thinking to herself, "when exactly did this happen?" Merely a few hours before, she had simply been a coordinator who had nearly lost her way, and just so happened to visiting her friends in the Kanto region. Now, here she was, back on the road, ready to take on the Kanto Grand Festival.

Needless to say, May was beaming for the rest of the night; after dinner, she, Ash, and Brock all set out on their journey. On their way to Saffron City, they stopped and decided to camp out for the night in the woods. The three spent a few hours sharing stories of their travels and victories; after a while though, the topics began to change.

"So, Ash; a little birdie told me that you have a thing for a certain Gym Leader in Cerulean city," May teased, punching Ash's shoulder. He pretended to nurse it, acting as if it had hurt.

"A little birdie told _me _that you had a thing for a certain green haired coordinator," Ash joked back. May blushed uncontrollably, not able to believe Ash's assumption.

"Who told you that?" May asked, trying to sound as calm as possible. Ash and Brock exchanged a glance, and then suddenly burst into hysterical laughter. May frowned, watching their faces turn from red to purple. Their laughing began to echo off the surrounding canyons.

"What?" May demanded. Brock and Ash just laughed harder. May rolled her eyes and smiled, waiting for them to finish. Soon, their laughter finally began to die down, and the two tried to even their breathing. Still smiling, Ash turned to a very confused May.

"Nothing, that's all," he began, "it's just…I was joking."  
"You took it so seriously though," Brock said, giving May a knowing smile. May tried not let any color run to her face, yet she failed ultimately. Brock, after seeing this, frowned; it wasn't long until Ash's smile faded too.

"Wait…_is _there something going on May?"

She quickly shook her head and laughed, looking into the eyes of her doubtful friends. "No, silly! I haven't seen Drew in two and a half years; of course nothing's going on!"

Ash cocked his head and Brock brought his hand to his chin, thinking.

"Okay…"Brock said, doubtfully. He got to his feet and grabbed his sleeping bag. Ash mimicked him. The two rolled their bags out.

"I'm gonna hit the hay," Brock said with a yawn, climbing into the sleeping bag. Ash did the same.

"Yeah, same here."

May nodded. She reached out for her sleeping bag, but stopped herself. She brought her hand back. Ash and Brock, now in their sleeping bags, turned to her. They each gave her a confused look. She blushed a bit.

"I think I'll stay up…just for a little while."

Brock gave her a weird look, but Ash just shrugged. "Suit yourself," he said, taking off his hat and putting his head down. "'Night Brock, 'night May."

Brock continued to eye May suspiciously, but then shook it off. "Yeah, good night."

May smiled, turning her head to the ground. "Sweet dreams."

For the next few hours, May kept her gaze fixed on to the dying fire. After only ten minutes, Ash began to snore even louder than she had remembered. Brock chuckled under his breath, but didn't say anything. After an hour, May could hear Brock breathing deeply, telling her that both of her friends were now asleep. All that remained of the fire by then were a few present flames and embers. She snapped her head up to the sky, looking at the stars and constellations. She let her mind wander, and thought of what her friends had just said about her and Drew. She managed a faint smile.

_Me have a thing for Drew?_ She shook her head, laughing lightly under her breath. Drew was probably one of the most arrogant people that May had ever met. Besides that, he was vain as well, and he had put May through a good deal of emotional pain before. She shook her head again at that though; _me and Drew. _She laughed; _her, _and _Drew. _It was a weird thing to think; her ending up with her rival. She hadn't heard of many stories like that before. Drew had always been the person to push her as a coordinator…they hadn't even ever been friends, just rivals and then…

For some reason though, May could all too easily picture herself with Drew; she blushed furiously as the thoughts ran through her head. The times that Drew had handed her roses, the times that he had actually been kind to her, the times they had parted and gone their separate ways…even those times when Harley would tease them, calling them boyfriend and girlfriend when they were younger. Then, new images began to run through May's head; things that hadn't yet happened yet and were only a figment of her imagination. Them holding hands, him leaning in to her…

May shook her head wildly, trying to get rid of the images that had just passed through her brain. _You haven't talked to him in two and a half years May, _she reminded herself. Despite what Solidad had told May about Drew having feelings for her, May found it quite hard to believe; the way he could criticize her made what Solidad had said impossible in May's view. She and Drew were just friends, after all…

May then sighed, feeling her stomach flutter. She wondered why she felt that way; she felt as if there was a big pit in her stomach, and that she was sweating uncontrollably. Her heartbeat sped up, and she felt a lot of blood rush to her face. She bit her lip, wondering what was going on…

May gasped. "No, May, no," she whispered to herself. That was impossible; whatever she was feeling _wasn't_ her having feelings for Drew. No way; that couldn't happen. Drew was her former rival, and her friend if anything. May told that to herself again and again, and slowly, she calmed down. Once her breathing had steadied, she turned to the fire, which had now burned out.

"Okay, May," she said quietly to herself. "I think it's time you go to bed."

That being said, May grabbed her sleeping bag and unrolled it. She lay down and turned onto her right side, rubbing her temples. _It's over, _she reminded herself. The brief feeling had come and gone; it probably wasn't anything except for something strange that she had eaten at the restaurant. It was only temporary, and now it was gone. No way were they feelings for Drew, anyhow; that wasn't possible. Drew was her friend.

_Drew's my friend, _she reminded herself one last time as she felt herself slip into sleep.

A/N:

You: No! No no NO! Stupid person! _Why _can't she just admit she's f**king in love with him?!

Me: Ahhh…in due time, in due time. Trust me

I'm really loving this right now; now, reviews are encouraged…but what I'm looking for is a better world people! Tell me what good deed you've done so far this week; did you donate your allowance to charity instead of spend it on candy or birth control or whatever, did you help that old lady walk the street, did clean your brother's room without having him ask you? Whatever it is, tell me; spread the love. Then, you'll get your next chapter.

Wishing you only the best,

--Wild Promegraniiit 3


	6. Fear

A/N: Hello everyone! Alright, the last time we saw May, she had agreed to travel with Ash and Brock again; now, here she is on the eve of her seventeenth birthday, six months later. Remember the feeling of butterflies May had gotten in her stomach? Well…here's more of that. Enjoy chapter six!

Fear

May smiled, reading her birthday card from Ash.

"Thank you!" she exclaimed, holding up her glass figurine of a Torchic, which was her first Pokémon. She beamed at Ash and saw him blush in return. She went over to him and gave her twenty year old friend a hug. Off to May's left, Brock chuckled.

"Ash, you _clearly _don't know which presents catch a woman's eye," he said, crossing his arms with a smirk. May lifted an eyebrow while Ash laughed.

"May's just my friend Brock," he said, blushing a bit.

"I love the figurine he got me anyway," May said quickly, noticing how much Ash was blushing. May mentally laughed; _he's thinking about Misty…_

Brock rolled his eyes and reached into his bag, pulling out a silver box with a gold bow on top.

"Happy birthday May," he told her as he handed May the gift. May took the ribbon off and put it on top of her hat, which got a laugh out of Ash. She opened the box. Inside was a silver charm bracelet, with a charm of each Pokémon she had ever caught; Torchic, Skitty, Squirtle, Bulbasaur, Beautifly, Eevee, and Munchlax. As for that, the other charms included a miniature ribbon and…a rose. May rolled her eyes at the last charm, but beamed down at the rest.

"I love it Brock, thank you!" she said, giving her friend a small hug. She put her charm bracelet on, and jiggled it around on her wrist. Brock chuckled, and nudged Ash.

"Told you I knew what women liked," he told Ash with a smile. Ash just shook his head in disappointment with himself.

"Jewelry…why didn't I think of that?" He said, mentally hitting himself. May smiled, and thanked them both yet again.

May's seventeenth birthday was turning out better than she had expected it to; after receiving a phone call and presents from her family and Solidad and Dawn, May, Ash, and Brock arrived at Mulberry City, right where May's next contest was. Ash was training hours on end in preparation for taking on the Kanto Elite Four, and his work was beginning to show. As for May's contest, the ribbon from Mulberry City was the last one she needed in order to compete in the Kanto Grand Festival—again. _Don't expect to get it May, _she reminded herself. _Solidad is going to be there._ When May had heard from Solidad that she was in the Kanto area and on her way to Mulberry City for her next ribbon, May's heart had sunk and hit rock bottom. In the four or five years that May had known Solidad, she had never been able to beat her. And, of course, here she was; a mere month and a half away from the Kanto Grand Festival, where she would eventually have to face Solidad.

May sighed to herself; at around eleven, the three called it a night and had went to bed. It was a little after one now, and for who knows what reason, May was still up in bed. From the bunk above her she could hear Ash's snoring, and from the bed next to her Brock's heavy breathing was audible.

_Happy Birthday May, _she told herself quietly with a small smile. May looked up, thinking of the contest ahead of her. She sighed; having to defeat Solidad to get her next ribbon seemed like mission impossible. Even though she hadn't battled Solidad in nearly four years, she was ready to expect the worst. The last—and only—time she had ever battled her was in the final four the last time she was at the Kanto Grand Festival, a few years back. Although May had somehow managed to win against Drew and Harley, she still lost brutally to Solidad.

Suddenly, May's charm bracelet seemed to weigh a ton on her wrist. She bit her lip, knowing exactly why it felt that way. She sat up, and brought her wrist closer to her face, looking at the charms. She shook her wrist, looking for the charm that she knew was the source of the sudden butterflies in her stomach. Her breath froze as she stopped at the rose charm; she felt color run to her face almost instantaneously. May blushed, suddenly feeling very self-conscious. _There's no need to feel like that May, _she mentally reminded herself, _the charm was just a joke. That's all it was…_

For some reason, May wasn't convinced.

She continued to stare at the charm bracelet, remembering how nearly six months back Ash had teased her about Drew; _"A little birdie told _me_ that you have a thing for a certain green haired coordinator…"_ She sighed, then remembering her overreaction to the joke. In her frustration, she slammed her head back on her pillow, and wondered to herself why there were still butterflies in her stomach. The rose charm suddenly felt ice cold against her skin. Her heartbeat quickened, and she could feel drops of sweat roll down from her neck to her back. She told herself to calm down (multiple times), but her body seemed unwilling. May let out a grunt of annoyance.

_ May, get a hold of yourself, _she thought. There was no reason for…whatever she was feeling to be happening. _What is happening to me, anyway? _May thought over the reasons as to why she was suddenly so hyperactive; she only got that way right before a contest. The only other time she had gotten that way was a few months back, when Ash had teased her about…

"Drew," she gasped, fairly loudly. The second she did, her hand flew to her mouth, hoping that she didn't wake her two roommates. She heard Ash mumbled a little in his sleep, and Brock shifted his weight. Besides that, the two still seemed to be asleep.

_Drew, _May thought to herself. Drew. Her rival that she hadn't spoken to in nearly…three years, now that she did the math. The last time she saw him, he told her that he was on his way to Hoenn region and was going to compete again in the Hoenn grand festival. May also remembered that earlier that same day, she had received a rose, and for the first time, a note from him as well.

May shot upright again, her eyes scanning the room for her brown bag that contained Drew's note. She looked past the mess of junk that belonged to Ash and Brock, and was somehow able to pick out her bag in the blackness. As quietly as she could, she stood up from her bed, and tried to—without making a noise—go across the room and grab her bag. As she made her way through the darkness, she felt her muscles tense up, wondering if she still even _had _the note she was looking for. Holding her breath, she grabbed her bag, and made her way back to her bed. She threw it onto her lumpy mattress and began to neurotically search through her belongings, looking for the small folded up piece of paper that might have long been lost, seeing to the fact that she hadn't looked for the note in over a year. To her extreme relief, she felt her hand grasp a small, aged piece of paper. Taking a deep breath, she pulled out Drew's note. It was now crumpled, bent, and over folded; besides that, it was still the same note that Drew had given her three years ago. She very slowly unfolded the piece of paper, and took a deep breath as she read the note that she now knew by heart:

May—

I know what you're thinking. We've all seen it before, and we know you have it in you. So stick to that.

- Drew

Her eyes scanned across the page, looking at Drew's neat handwriting. Without reason, the butterflies returned again, stronger than they had ever been. May felt blood run to her face, and she was starved for oxygen. May refolded the note and threw it back into her bag before her body could breakdown. She flopped onto her bed, suddenly feeling as if the wind had been knocked out of her.

At that moment, May became aware of a few things.

Her perspective of Drew had changed in the three years they hadn't kept touch; she didn't know exactly what it was, but _something _was different. Also, there was an immense possibility that when (or, more appropriately, _if)_ she saw Drew, he wouldn't feel any different about her from the day they had last spoken. Drew would most likely still view May the way they had when they had first met, almost seven years ago; despite her seeing his vulnerable side, he would always view May as the weak, spineless coordinator that would never pose a threat. And, for some reason, although it hadn't hurt May before…it hurt her _now. _

Suddenly, she found herself choking back big, fat tears. She bit her lip to keep herself from waking up Ash and Brock, but she heard herself wail a few times. Gathering whatever ounce of willpower she had in her, she managed to bring her head back down to her pillow, and the blankets back over her. Tears continued to stream down her face, until after two in the morning, she felt a wall of drowsiness overcome her. Just before she fell asleep, she was thinking only one thing.

She knew she was crying over Drew; she just didn't know _why._

And that truly scared her.

A/N: Okay, I'm not sure if that was exactly a cliffhanger, but it feels like that…the story is about to get really exciting! Everything I've built on in the first six chapters is about to come together; I'm excited for chapter seven!

So…for chapter seven, go to aeropostale and donate your old jeans; help a child in need.

--Wild Promegraniiit

Ps. Reviews are highly appreciated too though


	7. Insanity

5

A/N: I would just like to say a few things regarding reviews.

If I irritated you in the review I gave you, then go ahead, flame me. Angry reviews are actually funny to read

I don't really care too much about reviews though; I write for fun, and if there are people out there that like my work, then hooray for me. Still, if not one person on the face of the earth reads my story, then I'm fine with that too.

So yeah, that's all

--Vikki

Insanity

May's luck had finally taken a turn for the better.

The second after May's victory in the Mulberry City contest, she slumped to the ground in shock. She couldn't make sense of the words that were being spoken from Lilian's mouth; she might as well have been speaking Pokémon. There were only three words that May could manage to get through her brain; three words that meant little to an ignorant coordinator, but the world to her. Those three words proved that May's hard training had managed to pay off, and that what she had worked for wasn't going to go to complete waste. Those words, in a nutshell, mattered more to her than any other victory she had ever achieved.

_I beat Solidad._

May felt a sudden shadow block the arena's lights from her. She hesitantly lifted her head up, and saw Solidad herself, standing before her. She smiled, and offered May her hand. After looking at it, May reluctantly accepted, and got to her feet. She felt an overwhelming wave of accomplishment wash over her as Solidad shook her hand, hearing the crowd cheer at the display of good sportsmanship. Lilian rushed over to May, and continued to speak into her microphone. May still didn't understand a word of what was coming out of the MC's mouth. She hardly even remembered being handed her fifth and final ribbon; somehow though, for some length of time later, May felt the cool metal against her hand.

"May!"

For the first time since it had occurred to her that she had for once beaten Solidad, she was finally able to snap her attention back to reality. Ash and Brock were running forward to greet her, each giving her a high five and many congratulations.

"Good job May; onto the Grand festival!" Ash shouted, his own face turning red from excitement.

"Yeah, congratulations!" Brock exclaimed. May smiled, but found herself choking back words. She felt Solidad's hand on her shoulder and turned around to her rival. She gave May a faint knowing smile.

"Good job May," she said, sincerely. "You've gotten yourself together since the last time I battled you."

All May could do was nod. Solidad's smile faltered a bit.

"Let's see if you could do it again at the grand festival." With that being said, Solidad said her goodbye to Ash and Brock, gave May one last smile, and confidently walked out of the contest hall. May kept her feet planted where they were; the initial shock of her victory hadn't worn off quite yet.

Brock frowned, looking after where Solidad had just disappeared. "She's right you know; you'll have to beat her own more time."

May—still not being able to speak—just gave her head a shallow nod. Ash sighed, and nodded grimly. He quickly turned back to May, and gave her a warm smile again.

"Let's not worry about that now though; c'mon, let's celebrate! You beat Solidad!"

"I beat Solidad," May finally managed to choke out. The ribbon in her hand suddenly felt as cold as ice. Brock, seeing her state, put his hand on her shoulder.

"C'mon May, let's celebrate," he said soothingly. May managed a nod.

_Get a hold of yourself May, _she told herself. She shook her head a few times, trying to undo the seemingly permanent state of shock she was currently in. It wasn't easy for her to accept the fact that she had finally defeated Solidad; she had always viewed her as one of the toughest coordinators she had ever met, having won two Grand Festivals in the past. To know that she had beaten someone with such power seamed unreal and impossible. From the events that had occurred today however, it looked like May would have to learn to accept the impossible.

Suddenly, May felt a wave of pure _joy _just engulf her. She had defeated one of the best coordinators she had ever met. She had defeated the previous champion of both the Kanto and Jhoto Grand Festival; to be able to say that had to have meant something. Either May had been very lucky today, or she was underestimating her strength as a coordinator. It was always hard for her to tell just how good of a coordinator she had become; she hadn't spent any of her time traveling with one of her rivals, nor had she bumped into any on her way around the Kanto region. The contest that had just happened, in fact, was the first time since May won the Jhoto Ribbon cup that she had battled against a former rival of hers. And, since she had successfully been victorious against Solidad, that had to have meant that she had made immense progress in the past few years.

As Ash continued to talk a mile a minute to May about something she was hardly aware about—all she would do was nod every now and then and say "uh-huh" when she had to—May felt a sudden gust rush past her as she walked out the door of the contest hall. The air outside was fairly chilly, but it was nice nonetheless. She looked around in the late afternoon sky, not quite wondering what she was looking for. As she was about to take a step out onto the sidewalk, she decided to turn around and to take another look at the Mulberry contest hall. She smiled, looking at the large building in front of her, only now realizing she had aimlessly walked out of the side door. She turned her head to the front door, and wondered how she ended up walking out the side anyway.

Then, she saw Drew.

He was amongst a mob of coordinators that were exiting the contest hall. Although it had been three years since May had least seen him, she was able to recognize him. He was taller than the last time she had seen him; he was a bit shorter than Ash, but then again, Ash was a giant. He wasn't as lanky as he been three years ago either; either he'd fattened up, or gained some muscle. His hair, however, was the dead giveaway. His green hair was the same as it had been even when he was ten.

May felt as if her entire world was put on hold; it could have been minutes, hours, or merely seconds. Either way, none of that mattered; at this moment, she was closer to Drew than she'd been in the last three years. She was close enough to actually _see _him. He was right there; close enough to be in running distance. Everything suddenly felt a bit more concrete; as the years had passed, Drew had become less of a person and more of a distant memory. He slowly faded back, just like all of her old memories had. And, now, here he was; no longer in her imagination. He was in front of her, all but fifty feet away.

All of her confusion was _right there._

Shock had been the initial emotion to reach May; now, a wave of nausea washed over her, feeling as if her gut had been twisted in many different directions. As she tried to inhale, she realized that her breath had been taken away from her. Sweat rolled down her neck, and as much as she had been dreading the feeling, no amount of dread could keep away the butterflies. They flew around in her stomach, making her feel queasier than ever before. She felt a certain lightheadedness come over her; as if at any minute, she would faint.

_May, get a hold of yourself! s_he shouted in her mind; for the state she was in, she was reluctant to be able to think. Her thoughts flowed more clearly through her now; first, or course, she decided that in her best efforts to _not _throw up all over her girl clueless friend beside her, she would have to calm herself down. _C'mon May, deep breaths; in and out, in and out… _

May shook her head, suddenly letting emotion register through her. It was extreme…confusion that managed to reach her first. Here she was, nearly fifty feet away from her rival that she hadn't seen in three years. The one rival that had left her with only a note and a rose since the last time he'd seen her was closer to her than he had been in three years, yet he most likely didn't even know she was there, staring at him. May shook her head, suddenly realizing that she was staring at him. _Getta grip, _she reminded herself. She felt warmth in her cheeks; now she was blushing an absolutely furious shade of red. She tried her best to compose herself, yet it was a bit hard to do while trying to get her thoughts straightened out.

She suddenly felt an extreme amount of resentment towards Drew. _You, _she said, shaking her head. _You just _had _to show up here, didn't you? My life was fine until you came back; now, you're here. I haven't even spoken to you for godsakes and you're already ruining me. Why Drew; why leave me only a simple note and not even TRY to talk to me for the last three years? I think I deserve better than that Drew._

"Um, May? You okay?"

May shook her head, and turned back to face a very worried looking Ash Ketchum. Realizing it was only him, she snapped her head back to the entrance of the contest hall. She looked around, trying to find the green head she was looking for. He was standing right in front of the door the last she saw him… she looked around, desperately hoping to see him again. In the exact spot he had been standing in just seconds before now stood a very young brunette girl.

"N-Nothing…" May said, quickly. She reluctantly managed to tear her head away from the entrance to the contest hall and looked at her two friends; they had an expression of worry across their faces.

"Nothing," she said again, this time more confidently. "I just…I'm still a bit shocked from my victory, that's all."

Hm…her victory. Was that really only earlier that same day? She turned her head again back to the entrance of the contest hall, hoping for some sign that she hadn't been seeing things, and that Drew really had been there. Of course, that same brunette was still standing where he had been.

"You know May," Brock began hesitantly, "we don't have to celebrate tonight. We could wait 'till tomorrow…"

"I want to celebrate tonight," she said quickly and sternly. She forced a grin onto her face. "Really, I'm fine…a celebration is exactly what I need."

Ash merely shrugged and said, "Well, sounds like a plan. Who's up for dinner? I'm starved!"

May laughed, then stopped quickly, surprised by how fake it sounded. "Dinner sounds good."

Brock doubtfully looked at May, as if to analyze her. She tried her very hardest to keep a straight face as Brock looked her over; she was silently praying that she was fooling him.

"Humph," was all he said, turning his back to May as he and Ash started walking down the sidewalk.

May breathed a sigh of relief, happy to be rid of further questioning. _Keep it together May, _she thought. What she had just seen…if had to have been real, right? May wasn't a psychopath…surely, she wouldn't have seen anything. May shook her head, looking back one last time to the contest hall entrance, frowning. What had just happened was too real for hallucinations; it couldn't be possible that she had somehow dreamed it up. She didn't want to accept that fact; no way would she admit that she was crazy.

Then again, it would probably be much harder to accept the fact that Drew was back in her life; he had, after all, been walking out of the contest hall with the same mob of people that had just witnessed her battle with Solidad. In fact, that same mob of people had probably also heard Lilian announce over the microphone that May now had five ribbons, meaning she was eligible to compete in the Kanto Grand Festival. May's heart skipped a beat, suddenly realizing what that meant. Drew knew that May was going to be at the Grand Festival, meaning that he, being the competitive person he was, was going to somehow find his way to the Kanto Grand Festival, if he wasn't already eligible.

May shuddered seeing the two options;

Either she was insane, or Drew was back in her life, along with the risks.

May sighed, turning back to look at her friends, now continuing to walk down the street.

"Insanity it is," she mumbled under her breath, running to catch up to Ash and Brock.

A/N: **This is an important message; I will be giving you guys a double update today because I won't be able to update anytime soon. Chapter nine will be up and running next Wednesday. Go on, read chapter eight now!**

You're next save the world task is fairly simple; write a story on fanfiction. No, not a smutty lemon; a genuine story. Fill the world with literature that we hardly get to see anymore. Hey, PM if you think you've written something beautiful! The world could use a bit more beauty

Love,

Vikki (I'm just going to go by my real name now…sick of writing Wild Promegraniiit.)


	8. Nuisance

A/N: Hello there my wonderful people! Welcome to chapter eight of _Notes and Roses._ I would just like to address a few things. First of all, for those of you tearing you hair out and reviewing; "WHY THE HELL HAVEN'T THEY MET ALREADY?!" I have a simple answer for you. This chapter was written on the fourteenth of January; I write my chapters waaayyy in advance, and I post them every Wednesday and Sunday. I have an outline and everything; I know how this story is going to go and I'm not changing anything.

Also, May and Drew's relationship is going to take a lot to build on, considering the fact that the show didn't give us much. Since I want this fanfiction to be as realistic as possible (minus the sex), the characters are going to take longer to develop feelings for each other, because that is the way they were modeled.

Blessings,

Vikki

Nuisance

Drew walked in, shaking off the casual shock of the battle he had just witnessed. _Hm. So the rumors are true, _was his initial thought when he saw May manage to defeat Solidad and take the Mulberry City ribbon. He couldn't say he had been _too _surprised; for the past two years, he'd been hearing of May's overwhelming success in the Jhoto Grand Festival, and more recently, how she was taking the Kanto region by storm. It almost seemed a bit too coincidental that he was not only in the same region as her, but that he was actually in Mulberry city the day of her contest to get her fifth ribbon. Drew, already having five Kanto ribbons of his own under his belt, deciding it would be interesting to see, went and watched May's battle.

Once Drew had found out of Solidad's competing in the same contest of May, Drew had his doubts. Even if the rumors weren't as over exaggerated as Drew thought they were, judging by May's skills the last time he had battled her, the chances were quite slim that his formal rival would walk away with the Mulberry City ribbon.

Evidently he was wrong.

Apparently, the media hadn't over emphasized anything. May was much stronger than Drew had expected it to be; not only was her Glaceon a complete knockout, but so was the rest of her team. As Drew watched the battle, he noticed a sort of grace in May that he hadn't ever before; not the way she battled, but just May herself. He hadn't seen his rival (in person at least) for easily three years, and seeing her that day at the contest…it just blew him away. In appearance, she hadn't changed much; besides the fact that her hair was now longer and no longer in her signature palm tree style, she just looked a bit older than she had before. No, it was just the way that she had changed…mentally, he supposed. She seemed more strong and independent; there was a confidence in her that he hadn't ever seen in May before. He wasn't even sure if _May _knew just how strong and confident she seemed…

Well, he did know one thing for sure; the dark haired chick was annoying the hell out of him.

She was already at the Pokémon center when he had gotten there. She was standing at the desk by Nurse Joy, all up in her face.

"What do you _mean _the contest ended?" She whined, giving Nurse Joy a pleading look.

"I'm sorry, but the winner was announced a few hours ago," she just said sweetly. The girl just groaned, quietly thanked the nurse, and started to head back towards the door. Drew, now feeling a bit full of the fact that the girl had missed the contest, decided to play the jerk.

"Too bad you weren't there," he began with a smirk on the girl's way out, stopping her in her tracks. "The final battle was great. The winner—"

"I know who won," the girl snapped, turning around to face him. She put her hands on her hips and pouted. It was her turn to smirk. "What, are you some kind of Poké freak?"

Drew snorted. "Hardly. Judging by that get up, I take you are," he said as he gestured towards the girl's outfit. She scowled.

"For your information, I competed in the Sinnoh, Hoenn, and soon to be Jhoto grand festival."

"And let me guess; you have yet to win?"

The raven haired teenager turned a shade of red in her anger. "Okay, you just listen Mr. Arrogance…"

"Excuse me? Mr. Arrogance?" Drew snorted. "What would that make you? Ms. Sassy?"

She stomped her foot, just about ready to explode. "Who the _hell _do you think you _are?"_

Drew, now deciding to just walk away from her, turned around and nonchalantly brushed some of his hair out of his face. "I think I'm the winner of this Kanto grand festival," he said, as he walked down the hallway leading to his room at the Pokemon center. The highly provoked girl stared at him in disbelief, her mouth agape.

"This isn't over!" she yelled walking towards him.

Drew just gave her the finger and continued walking to his room.

A/N: I know, this chapter was different then the rest. I decided to do another one from Drew's perspective since you've been getting a lot from May's. As you've noticed, this is the shortest chapter I've written so far, as are the rest of the Drew chapters in this story. The reason for that is that when I was analyzing Drew, I realized that there wasn't that much depth to him as there was to May. That's not to say he's not deep…but anyway, May is the one who's undergoing to stage of confusion right now; Drew will get his fair share of that later.

Here we have it, the plot thickens! Get ready for chapter nine; it's a biggie…

Next task for the next chapter; like I've said before, reviews are highly appreciated, so this task will stay true to the theme of reviewing. All the authors on fanfiction are aspiring writers; give some constructive criticism! Honestly review at least five stories; this could be one of them if you'd like. Share your opinion; it counts.

I know, the author's note were longer than the chapter itself. I had a lot of fun writing this though; sure, it was short….but *cough cough* it was essential…

So yeah, like I said at the chapter seven author's note; **I will not be updating on Sunday as usual. Instead, I gave you guys a double chapter update today. Chapter nine will be up and running next Wednesday.**

That's all.

Love,

--Vikki

Ps. For those of you going, "Argh! They haven't met yet! This story is awful!" I would just like to let you know that a whirlwind romance isn't probable at all for May in Drew; that requires a lot of maturation. So, that's exactly what's going on; they are maturing, and the romance is coming along


	9. Sunset

5

A/N: After much demand, here is the long awaited chapter. This is where the plot thickens. Enjoy.

--Vikki

Sunset

Three years.

That was the last time May had seen Drew; nearly three years. It was only a week after she had turned fourteen when they had said goodbye and went their separate ways. Neither had known just how long they would be apart. And, here she was; three years, one month, and a week later, at the Kanto Grand festival, ready to compete.

A sense of déjà vu overwhelmed May as she set foot in the Indigo Plateau Pokémon center. This would be the fifth Grand Festival she would compete in, and memories of her other four clouded her mind. Despite not having competed in the Grand Festival for nearly two years, May felt right at home the second she walked through the indigo plateau Pokémon center. She couldn't help but grin and say 'hello' to every other coordinator she passed. Despite the fact that they all looked at her like she was a crazed psycho, that didn't dampen May's mood at all. She was back to where she belonged. Ash and Brock were snickering in the corner meanwhile, silently laughing at their slightly dazed friend.

"Somebody's happy…" Brock said with a grin. Ash laughed.

"Yeah. It's good to see her like that," he said with a smile. Brock, suddenly realizing that he needed to speak to Nurse Joy, ran off and left Ash without more than a word. Ash chuckled to himself, realizing just how happy he was that he was still on the road with his friends. In the meantime, May walked over to the reception counter and received her room key from Nurse Joy. It took her a bit of effort to tear the ever girl-crazed Brock away from the Nurse, but after a little bit, Ash, May, and Brock, safely made their way to their room. As they walked in, Ash flopped on his bed.

"What a long day," he said as he lay down and stretched his arms out, simply dropping his disorganized bag to the floor. Brock started taking his belongings out and began to unpack, talking to May at the same time.

"Well…this Grand Festival seems to have the works. With Solidad in the game, are you sure you're going to be able to win this one?"

May rolled her eyes. "I've beaten her before, haven't I?"

Ash laughed from his bed. "Spoken like a true stubborn mule."

Brock stopped rummaging through his belongings, and turned back to look at his friend. "Someone's a bit hypocritical."

Ash just shrugged and smirked. "Never said I wasn't…"

May smiled from the doorframe, looking around the room. Minus Max, her travels with Ash had been just like old times…she was glad that she had been able to travel with him and Brock again. May frowned to herself though; she had yet to tell them that she had already decided that after this Grand Festival, she would go back to traveling alone. She was already beginning to notice a similarity in Ash's strategy and her own, and she decided that she didn't want to go down that road again. As much as she valued Ash as a friend, she couldn't spend too much time with him, and she knew that one journey was more than enough. Still, he had changed since she last traveled with him; for one, Dawn was right about him and his "spark" with Misty. When she had visited Cerulean city, Ash wouldn't let May or Brock spend the day with him and Misty. So, while May and Brock decided to go visit some of the landmarks around Cerulean city, Ash had his date with Misty. He had refused to tell May or Brock how it had gone, but it must have gone fairly considering the fact that Misty didn't go a week without videophoning them from then on.

May smiled to herself; _Ash has finally grown up…_ She suddenly looked out the window, and felt another wave of déjà vu pass over her.

It was sunset.

Feeling a tingling sense go up her spine, her mind rushed to Drew. Drew, her former rival; the one she had thought she'd seen nearly a month or so ago right after her battle with Solidad. Almost immediately, she felt color run to her face, and butterflies fly around in her gut. This time, however, was different than the rest; it felt powerful rather than sickening. For once, the feeling felt _right. _She nervously glanced towards her bag. _The note…_she thought to herself. This time (again) was different than others; she didn't have a mental battle. Almost automatically, her fingers made her way to the letter she had gotten from Drew three years before. It felt very warm in her hands….it felt _right _in her hands. She looked back up to the horizon, suddenly feeling very reassured. Although part of her brain wanted to argue with what she was about to do, for the first time ever, she decided not to listen to her brain. She was acting on _instinct _now.

"I think I'm going to take a walk…" she said slowly, turning around to back out of the door. Ash and Brock exchanged a puzzled look, but decided not to question their friend. Just before she closed the door behind her, May said, "I'll be back after sunset."

As May felt the rush of the cool breeze pass her as she left the Pokémon center, she felt a rush of confidence. Her heart raced as she stumbled along the plateau, trying to find what she was looking for…even in the dimming light, she could make out the faint outline of the dock along the lake's shore she wanted to fine. She felt as if her entire world had just decided to come together as she made her way to the dock; without hesitating, she walked down the wooden structure, all the way to the end. Her breath now uneven, she slowly took off her shoes and socks and set them next to her. She dipped her bare feet into the water clutching the wrinkled note in her hand.

She waited for only a few minutes, and heard footsteps behind her.

Immediately, May felt the need to watch the way she acted. Yet at the same time, everything felt surreal; here she was, in the exact same scenario as she had been three years ago, with the same note in her hand. And, of course, he was right behind her as well.

She took a deep breath. "Déjà vu, huh?"

May heard deep chuckling come from behind her; she didn't turn around.

"I'll say," he said, taking a seat next to her. _Hmm, _May thought, _his voice is so much deeper…_

Her voice quivered as she spoke, "So, how's everything been going for you Drew?"

For the first time in three years, May turned to the right and looked at her former rival. She was absolutely stunned when she was him; although she had encountered him a month before, he hadn't looked anything like the way he did now.

As much as May didn't want to admit it, Drew was extremely attractive.

A split second after that thought, May mentally shook her head. _Stupid, raging hormones… _was all she could think; she wouldn't even use the friend excuse anymore. She looked Drew over; although he wasn't as lanky as he had been, it definitely wasn't fat that made him bigger. If anything, it was pure, solid muscle that had taken away his skinniness. The green haired coordinator's face had lost all of it's baby fat, and he looked much older than the last time May had seen him. He was easily six feet tall now.

Drew finally responded to May's question. "Things have been fine…contests here, contests there." He casually brushed a lock of hair out of his face, making May just want to _melt. _She shook her head again (mentally, of course), trying to knock some sense into herself. _God May, is it really so hard to control your emotions?_

Evidently it was.

"Besides the success…." Drew continued slowly, "How's it been for you?"

May shrugged, and managed a smile. "I'm traveling with Ash again."

He chuckled, running his hand through his hair. "Last I spoke to you, you were trying to undo his damage?"

May, suddenly feeling a bit of bitterness come over her, flatly said, "Last you spoke to me was three years ago."

Drew, knowing that this was going to be brought up in their conversation, looked down in shame. "Yeah…listen, May—"

"Don't go that long without talking to me ever again, okay?" May blubbered suddenly. Drew leaned back a little in shock, seeing how May was upset with that fact.

"May…"

"I mean it," she said, trying to sound forceful. "Not even a few months, okay?"

Drew chuckled a bit under his breath. His hand inched towards his rivals, and he gently placed his on top of hers. Though May was blushing furiously, she knew that Drew meant it for reassurance.

"I won't," he said quietly.

May looked back at him, smiling through glassy eyes. She moved her hand back to her lap. "You better not…"

Drew laughed, moving his hand back to his lap as well. The two stayed at the edge of the dock in silence, and slowly watched the sun creep behind the horizon and disappear. As night overcame them, May got to her feet, smoothing out her clothing.

"I'd better get going," she said quietly. Drew nodded and stood up.

"Let me walk you back."

May, feeling no reason to object, simply nodded. The teens walked in silence on the way back to the Indigo Plateau Pokémon center. The entire way, May wondered just what had overcome Drew to hold her hand…even if it only was for a moment. _Reassurance, _she told herself, mentally agreeing with that fact. Drew was just helping her; he probably didn't want the waterworks to come on, so that was why he held her hand. For reassurance.

May and Drew stopped at the front of the Pokémon center. He smiled, and turned towards May.

"Goodnight," he said smoothly, nodding his head. He turned around to walk away, without waiting for a response from May.

After a minute of hesitation, May nervously called out, "Goodnight Drew!"

He waved behind his shoulder, disappearing into the darkness.

May stood there for a little while longer, feeling as if the entire thing had just been a dream. She shook her head and just walked back into the Pokemon center, passing the desk. As she neared her room, she paused before she opened the door, eavesdropping on the boys for a minute.

"…he's here?" Ash asked, in shock. Brock must've nodded, for there was no response from him. "So is that where May went?"

"How would I know? It's a decent guess…why wouldn't she go to see him?"

"Well…whatever it is, I hope those two get together soon."

Brock laughed. "May and I are saying the same thing about you and Misty behind your back.

Ash, now whispering, quickly said. "Alright, Brock, fine. We _are _together; you were right. We got together in Cerulean city, okay?!"

Brock chuckled. "Don't act like I don't know that Ash…it was nice to hear you say it though."

Hearing no response from Ash, May took that as her cue to walk in. The two boys shifted positions, acting as if they hadn't just been talking about her.

"How'd everything go?" Brock asked, clearing his throat.

May shrugged, pulling the covers up from her bed. "Fine. I think I'm gonna call it a night…"

Ash nodded, turning to get back under the covers. "Not a bad idea considering the fact the Grand Festival starts tomorrow."

May nodded. "Right. That."

Brock climbed up to his bunk and hit the light switch, engulfing the room in darkness. "'Night guys."

"'Night," Ash and May said at the same time.

For once, May didn't stay awake too long after going to bed; she felt sleep overcome her fairly quickly. She went to bed thinking partly of the day ahead of her, but mostly of Drew. For once, she didn't feel confused when she thought about him. This time, she realized that she was just afraid to have Drew back in her life. She didn't have to be though; having Drew back in her life would probably be a very good thing for her. It would be nice to have another rival. May, smiling to herself, closed her eyes.

Just before she let sleep consume her, she stroked her right hand, where Drew had touched her.

A/N: Oh, you guys must seriously hate me now! What a let down, right? Don't worry my readers; in due time.

You: OH MY GOD! WHAT THE F**K? ALL THEY DID WAS HOLD HANDS?!

Me: *sigh* you don't have to read this story you know…

So, for the next chapter (high drama is the next one), give someone a compliment today that usually doesn't get compliments; whether it be a friend or just some random person in your algebra class, give someone a compliment.

Peace on earth,

Vikki


	10. Admittance

A/N: Okay, this chapter took FOREVER to write; ten frickin pages! But, it is by far one of the most crucial chapters in this entire story. Enjoy.

--Vikki

Admittance

The Grand Festival wasn't as easy as May had originally thought it would be.

Day one—the preliminaries—had been a complete breeze. The judges had almost instantaneously fallen in love with Glaceon, and from there on out, the same happened with every other Pokémon she had. Just had she had expected, she hadn't seen any real competition—besides Drew and Solidad, that is. Solidad, as usual, was brutal in every move she delivered, yet absolutely beautiful at the same time. Drew's skills, on the other hand, had become much more polished than they already had been; everything was laid out so perfectly, it made May wonder if Drew would actually surpass Solidad in the Grand Festival. Once the preliminary results had been announced, May blushed, finding that she had the highest score. The second highest score belonged to a coordinator she had not met before by the name Sarah. Solidad was third, and Drew was fourth.

Round two went smoothly; May didn't think it was too fair that she had battled a coordinator that was maybe thirteen. That being said, May won before her time ran out, stunning the thirteen year old. Sarah—whom Drew claimed to know from contests—had also done fairly well in the second round; when May had the chance, she had watched her battle. Sarah's tactics weren't exactly polished, yet they were very unpredictable. As May watched her battle, she couldn't help but wonder if Sarah had been a trainer before she became a coordinator. Watching Solidad, May didn't see anything she hadn't expected; she sent her opponent down a landslide, and made the other contestants that had not been eliminated yet gulp. Drew surprised May; his style had changed since she had last seen him. Although he wasn't as polished as he had been in the preliminaries, he still had stuck by his battling aesthetic; beautiful and strong.

By the final eight, something occurred that just astounded May with the competition she was up against.

Sarah had defeated Solidad.

May watched the screen in the waiting room for her battle in complete shock. Drew casually walked up to her.

"Either Solidad's been slipping or we better watch out," he said grimly. May shook her head.

"Solidad's just fine. I don't know who the hell this Sarah person is…" Drew gave May a strange look, and she blushed. "What?"

He shook his head with a smirk. "You're language is different."

She smiled, feeling a hint of boldness behind her grin. "I'm entitled."

Drew just rolled his eyes, watching the next two coordinators battle. Drew ended up battling some other coordinator that wasn't out for the competition, and May made it to the final four with ease. By the day's end, it was her, Drew, Sarah, and another coordinator whose battles she hadn't bothered to watch.

May's heart sunk as she watched her match up with Sarah. As strong as she felt, she didn't want to go against the kind of competition that had gotten the best of Solidad.

"May, is it?" May turned around and found herself facing the yellow blonde Sarah herself, a smirk across her face. She extended her hand.

"You must be really good to beat Solidad…" May said with a smile, shaking the girl's manicured hand. Sarah gave a small grin.

"Two Grand Festivals, huh?" May nodded grimly, and Sarah just shook her head. "I hope it wasn't pure luck that got me this far."

May just shrugged and wished the blonde luck, watching her fluidly walk away and get back to her Pokémon. She frowned, realizing that it couldn't have been luck alone that had gotten the coordinator so far into the competition. Her heartbeat stopped suddenly as she saw Sarah pass Drew and put her hand on his shoulder. Drew merely blushed and walked over to May.

"Exactly how well did you say you knew her?" May asked gently, hoping her question had been phrased right. Drew took a deep breath.

"We bumped into each other a lot on our way here. She also lived down the street from me back in LaRousse…she really made an impact on one of my contests a few months back though. Almost beat me there."

May nodded, trying to conceal the raging amount of jealousy she had. The thing that really scared her was that she didn't know what she was jealous of. Drew looked to his left and right, as if to make sure no one was listening. He leaned in and whispered in May's ear.

"Don't underestimate her though. I'll tell you what I know."

May rolled her eyes. "What do you know?"

He ran his hand through his hair. "Well, she finished off the Hoenn elite four."

May's jaw dropped; her depiction of the coordinator was correct. "Wait…she was a trainer first?"

Drew nodded. "A pretty damn good one too. She may not have the best appeals, but she has raw strength. You won't win if you go for strength alone."

May nodded, "Anything else?"

Drew sighed, trying to think of other things that could break May. "I know most of her team…you might want to use Beautifly; swampert's earthquake isn't something you want to stick around for. Also, watch out for her altaria, and the same goes for her raichu."

May nodded, realizing that the girl she was about to face had a very well rounded team. "Thanks," she mumbled. Drew gave her a small grin.

"Glad I could help," he said, putting his hand on her shoulder before he walked away. May bit her lip and blushed, putting her hand over where Drew had just touched her. She shook her head, reminding herself that she was being completely unreasonable.

Drew won his battle against the amateur coordinator with ease. May took a deep breath, ready to step into the arena. As Drew walked out and passed May, he whispered "good luck" into her ear. May felt her cheeks burn.

She heard a snort. "Someone's not used to having a boyfriend," said a very confident Sarah; she was picking at her red nail polish.

May quickly said, "Oh, he's not my boyfriend."

Sarah turned and looked up from her nails, putting her hands on her hips. "You sure about that?"

May nodded slowly. "He's…just a friend."

May mentally sighed; _there's that stupid word again; _friend.

Sarah eyed May suspiciously. "If you insist…"

May kept an eye on Sarah, trying to figure out what the girl was playing at. _For God's sake, I just met you…_May shook her head. She had to admit, the blonde had guts; she wasn't the original dumb blonde that May had perceived her to be. To have the boldness to walk up to a stranger and to demand their love lives wasn't something every woman had. May frowned; _I hope her battling isn't as bold as her attitude…_

With that, Lilian called both their names, sending Sarah and May out into the arena. After giving her intro, the two girls sent out their Pokémon.

"Altaria, Ninetails, let's go!" shouted a very confident Sarah. May noticed that although her Pokémon didn't make the best of an entrance, they look very powerful, as Drew had mentioned. His voice rang in May's head; _Watch out for her Altaria…_he hadn't said anything about Ninetails, so May figured that finishing her off wouldn't be a hurdle.

"Beautifly, Glaceon; come on out!" May—being very obsessive compulsive on the way her Pokémon made their entrances—sent them out beautifully. The two stood where they were with grace and confidence.

Sarah's upper lip twitched upward; "this is going to be fun…"

May frowned, seeing that they were with equal advantage and disadvantage. Sarah's Ninetails was the threat, seeing to the fact that the fire type Pokémon was strong against both her Beautifly and her Glaceon. She had the upper hand on the coordinator's Altaria though…

Sarah attacked Glaceon first using Ninetails, surprising May by using overheat right off the bat. Overheat was the type of move that took a good deal of damage out of your Pokémon; you usually wanted that to be one of the last attacks you performed. May looked at Ninetails, trying to see that damage the Pokémon took; she appeared to be just fine. Glaceon narrowly avoided the attack; although she had dodge the full impact of the very powerful overheat, it wasn't without taking some damage.

"Glaceon, Ice beam!" May shouted, motioning for the Ice type Pokémon to aim for Altaria. As the beam of ice made a beeline for the bird Pokémon, May noticed a smirk on Sarah's face.

"Dodge," she said casually.

May watched in shock as Altaria not only dodged, but shot up into the sky, gaining power. May, wondering what Sarah was up to, watched as Altaria flew back down to the ground, making a beeline for Beautifly.

"Beautifly, avoid that fly attack!" Beautifly managed to dodge the Altaria's attack, but Sarah's Pokémon wasn't going to give up.

For a good minute or so, Sarah's Pokémon continued to work at May's, trying to find their weaknesses. For the most part, May was able to dodge the attacks that Sarah had delivered. Rather than lose appeal points like Sarah should have, she just kept coming back with a different attack, displaying her Pokémon's strength. May soon began to realize just how Sarah had trained her Pokémon; to keep fighting. Their stamina and speed were fantastic, allowing her to deliver blow after blow to May's Pokémon without having them lose any energy. May tried to keep energy loss to a minimum amongst her Pokémon, only commanding them to avoid Sarah's attacks the second before they were delivered. The biggest problem for May was that she wasn't able to find a hole in Sarah's attacks; Ninetails and Altaria switched off, delivering blow after blow only allowing May time to dodge.

May remembered what Drew had said about Sarah; _you won't be able to win on strength alone… _she frowned, seeing that was exactly how Sarah had decided to play it. She knew how to not to jeopardize her appeal points and at the same time keep the attacks coming. As May looked over to see their points, she was shocked to notice that the constant dodging had taken a bite out of her own points. She grit her teeth, and decided to take a chance.

She waited just until Sarah's Ninetails' flamethrower was about to hit Glaceon.

"Shadow Ball Glaceon!" May shouted. As Glaceon's shadow ball collided with Ninetails' flamethrower, the flames burst everywhere and showered the stage.

May smiled, hearing Lilian's shouting into the microphone, and watching as Sarah's points decreased. Sarah smiled.

"Not bad," she said nonchalantly. She turned to her Altaria. "Perish song," she said simply.

Back in the waiting room, Drew looked at the television monitor, and suddenly heard a loud screech. He turned in horror, and saw that Altaria had used the one move that would even out the playing field.

"Damn…May," he said quietly to himself, realizing he had forgotten to warn May about Sarah's perish song.

Perish song was the one attack that had really shaken up Drew in his battle with Sarah. As ugly as it was, it was definitely very powerful. After that attack had been used, the entire playing field had been changed, going from an appeal round to sudden death. That was exactly what perish song did as an attack; after about a minute since the attack had been used, all of the Pokémon on the playing field would simultaneously faint. The winner would be decided on who had the most appeal points. In Drew's case, he had managed to take a massive bite out of Sarah's points just before all of their Pokémon fainted, and by a slim margin, he had won his victory. All Sarah had to do was knock out one of May's Pokémon, and unless May's remaining Pokémon had the ability to fight an unfair battle, she would lose.

Drew pounded his fist against the wall. "C'mon May…make an appeal."

If May were to keep playing the battle as she had, simply avoiding Sarah's attacks to try to keep her Pokémon conscious, then she was a doomed coordinator.

On the field, in her frustration, May's points began to dwindle downward, despite her efforts to make as many appeals as possible. Sarah, however, now knowing May's strategy, decided to use close range attacks like and fly rather than flamethrower and overheat. May, realizing she had maybe half a minute longer before the perish song took affect, decided to do a double combination and attempt take out the coordinator's altaria.

"Beautifly, psychic! Follow that up with ice beam Glaceon!"

The distracted altaria took the full blow of the double combo. May watched in horror as the Pokémon merely shook the attack off.

"But…how…"

Sarah smirked, counting backward from five. As she mouthed the number one, Glaceon, Beautifly, Altaria, and Ninetails all fell to the ground, fainting.

May, not wanting to see how many points she had left, heard Lilian's voice come over the microphone.

"By a slim margin, the winner who will be proceeding to the final two is…Sarah!"

The audience cheered for the blonde, who called back her Pokémon. She turned around and waved to the cheering stands, and then turned back to a drained looking May. The two coordinators walked forward and met in the middle of the field. Sarah extended her manicured hands, and May accepted it.

"Those were some great appeals you had there," Sarah said sympathetically. May smiled.

"Thanks…congratulations."

Sarah smirked. "Tell your boyfriend I say good luck."

May rolled her eyes, walking back through to the waiting room. She was greeted with cheers from some of the other coordinators in the room, having watched her battle. She managed a weak smile.

Solidad walked from her side and put her hand on her shoulder, giving May a sympathetic smile. "You were great May."

"Thanks," she mumbled, not exactly agreeing with her, but saying she did. Solidad gave May another smile. A smirk stretched across her face as she jabbed her thumb in front of May.

"I think someone wants to talk to you."

Once May turned in the direction Solidad had pointed her in, Drew was already in front of her. May gave a small shameful smile, but Drew laughed and shook his head.

"You were great, May," he said, putting his hand on May's shoulder. May felt blood rush to her face, but tried to conceal it. She mentally told her raging hormones to shut the hell up.

"Thanks for the advice," she mumbled, not wanting to look him in the eye. She shook his hand off of her shoulder and kept her head down, deciding she needed Nurse Joy to heal her Pokémon. Drew looked after May in confusion, then turned around to Solidad.

"Since when did she become a sulker?"

Solidad shrugged. "Ask Ash, I wouldn't know."

He sighed, and looked down at his feet, wondering what the hell was bugging him so much. _Of course I know what it is, _he thought angrily. For some reason, Drew felt somewhat responsible for May's pain. He didn't even know what it _was_ that he did that made it his fault; he just felt that whenever May was in pain, it linked back to him.

"Guess I should wish you luck."

Drew sighed and turned around, facing a very smug looking Sarah. He ran his hand through his green hair.

"May the best coordinator win," he said smoothly.

Sarah took a very confident step towards him. He was taken aback by her actions, but that didn't shake her attitude.

"Look, I don't want to sound intrusive, but May isn't telling me what I want to know," she said with a small, somewhat seductive grin. "What's the deal?"

Drew felt his heart skip a beat, trying to act as cool as possible. "What do you mean?" he fibbed, knowing perfectly well exactly what Sarah was talking about. She laughed.

"Don't play dumb," she whispered, bringing her mouth to his ear, breathing down his neck. Drew felt a tingling go up and down his spine, but tried to blot that feeling out. "I need the details. You and May; what's the deal?"

Drew shrugged, not wanting to say the wrong thing. "There is no deal," he said, trying to sound casual.

Sarah laughed, and brought her head back, keeping her gaze fixed on him. "You don't honestly think I believe that, do you?"

Drew, now irritated with the way Sarah was acting, rolled his eyes. "Look, Sarah; there's nothing going on, and it's none of your business anyway." Drew used a tone that he restricted only for the most annoying of people; a perfect example being the nauseating dark haired girl he'd run into at the Mulberry City Pokémon center.

Sarah, seeing that this would be a battle she would lose, just laughed. "Okay…I hope your not lying though." She looked back up at Drew, an almost flirtatious smile on her face. "Otherwise, that would really suck for the two of you."

Drew just shrugged, walking away from the coordinator. He wondered what idea had been implanted in Sarah's head that would make her think something would be going on between him and May; she had only met May earlier that day, and she was already asking about the two of them. Drew rolled his eyes, thinking of just how nosy Sarah was. Suddenly, Drew felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned around, bracing himself for a certain blonde coordinator, but found himself face to face with Solidad.

"Solidad," he said, looking at her. He realized an expression of doubt and worry was written across her face. Drew let his own expression soften; as he was about to ask her what was the matter, Solidad began talking.

"Drew…" she said slowly, as if now knowing what to say. She looked to the ground, thought for a second, and looked back up at him. "What is it with that Sarah?"

Drew looked at her, confused. "What are you talking about?"

She rolled her eyes, ready to explain, although she knew perfectly well that Drew didn't need any explaining. "She wouldn't be needling you about May unless she wanted to figure something out. What exactly would that be?"

Drew thought for a moment, letting Solidad's words sink in. _Why _would_ Sarah be asking so much about me and May?_

Drew shook his head. "Solidad…if you have a guess, then you have more of a lead than I do."

Solidad nodded slowly, taking her hand off of Drew's shoulder. She walked down the hall without so much as a word.

Drew shrugged, not realizing exactly what was going on. He walked down towards the arena, preparing for his battle.

May was in the waiting room, watching Drew's battle with Sarah. She bit her lip, realizing almost instantaneously who had the upper hand in the battle. With every attack Sarah delivered with her Swampert and Altaria, there was a counter attack from Drew's Pokémon. With every appeal that Sarah made, Drew turned it around and used it against her, using the points as his own. May's heart rose as she saw Sarah's decreasing points, feeling her spirits lift. Drew's strategy was paying off, considering the fact that his approach had been much different from her own. He was not only dodging every attack that Sarah sent at him, but he was making it work for himself. May felt some shame in herself, but focused her attention back to Drew's battle.

As May watched Drew's battle, she noticed that something had changed in his attitude; a quality of Drew's that she hadn't ever expected to disappear. Yet, here she was, at the Kanto grand festival, finally seeing why Drew was now so much more different than he had been three years ago.

He was finally showing his insecurities.

As May watched more closely, she noticed how he would swear under his breath whenever he made a mistake, rather than cover it up and act like it had been a perfect move. When things had looked bleak in his battle, May would notice a change in the way he acted. He would sweat; he would actually look worried. The Drew that May had known wouldn't have dared look frightened in public, and here he was on camera, openly looking like a deer caught in headlights.

Then, there were the moments when his moves were absolutely spectacular; instead of acting like what he had done had been "no big deal," his eyes would light up. He would pump his arm, and mouth the word "yes." May blushed, and suddenly, she realized what exactly was going on. She realized what the butterflies in her stomach were, and why she felt the way she did around Drew. _Stupid me, _she thought to herself. She knew all along exactly what it was; she just had been too stubborn and afraid to ever admit anything. Yet, after everyone's assumptions—Sarah's, Solidad's, Harvey's, Brock's, Dawn's, and even Ash's—she saw no reason to be afraid. And, with a flutter in her heart, she realized that maybe, just maybe, she had a chance.

Maybe Drew had feelings for her too.

The second that simple thought ran through her head, May found herself blushing uncontrollably again. Yet this time, rather than go into complete denial like she had before, she just smirked. _You know what? Fine, I admit it. I have feelings for Drew; he isn't just a friend, he's obviously more than that. _

"And the Kanto Grand Festival winner is Drew!"

May snapped her head back up to the television screen in the waiting room, seeing Drew's expression of shock, happiness, and accomplishment all mixed together. She bit her lip, seeing just how glad she was that Drew was finally letting his true colors show. _Without the arrogance, he's a decent guy…_She heard cheering coming from the crowds, chanting his name. A grin stretched across his face as he waved to the audience. May, feeling the spur of the moment, stood up in the waiting room, and clapped. Although she felt very self conscious in doing so, after receiving some stunned looks from other coordinators in the room, she felt her heart lift when she heard clapping from behind her. She turned around and saw Solidad, standing in the back corner, clapping for Drew. Slowly, more coordinators joined in, praising the new winner of the Kanto Grand Festival.

May grinned, feeling absolutely exuberant. _The second he walks through that door…I'm telling him. Yes, I'll tell him. He needs to know…_

She turned her attention back up to the screen of the television, smiling. She felt a pang of jealousy as she saw Drew walk towards Sarah, hand stretched out, but May realized she didn't care. _In a few minutes, she won't be a threat…_She smirked, seeing the defeated expression on Sarah's face. Drew gave her a look of sympathy, waiting for her to shake his hand.

And, in that fraction of a second, everything changed.

All of the celebration and happiness was deleted from May's head.

She watched, in complete shock, as Sarah leaned towards Drew.

_She kissed Drew._

It happened very quickly, at first. May didn't see it coming at all. Yet, here she was, with up close footage of it right in front of her. She stopped clapping, letting the shock completely numb her. The atmosphere immediately changed in the room, dropping from bright and light to very cold. She kept her eyes locked on the television screen; Drew's expression had gone from surprise to…happiness, almost. May couldn't bring herself to believe what she was seeing; Drew, of all people, was kissing another girl on _camera. _And yet, here she was, with the evidence right in front of her.

She shook her head, feeling dread completely overwhelm her. She slowly turned around, not daring to look back at the television screen. As she made her way out of the room, she couldn't help but notice Solidad's angered expression. She gave May a look of sympathy, then walked forward to where the doors in the waiting room lead to the arena. As May walked out of the waiting room, she heard Drew enter through the arena doors into the room. A chorus of applauses and congratulations came from the other coordinators in the room. May stopped, the door open. As much as she knew she shouldn't turn around, she looked over her shoulder, just to get a glance at Drew.

Sarah was clinging onto his arm, her lips on his cheek.

And, to make it worse, Drew himself was _smiling. _

That's when May felt the jab of pain.

She left the room, not wanting to believe any of it. She didn't want it to be real; it was if the entire thing had just been some cruel nightmare. However, she'd seen the evidence; it was all true. Drew was with another girl.

May didn't exactly know when she had decided to break into a run, but she did. She was soon sprinting as far away from the arena as fast as her legs were taking her. She found herself running towards her room, where she was staying. As she burst through the doors of the Pokémon center, she felt big, fat tears well up in her eyes. They stung, but she didn't care. She ran down the hall to her room, feeling her legs wobble underneath her. With a trembling hand, she took out her room key, and slowly unlocked the door that lead to her room. As she walked in, she collapsed onto a bed, not being able to remember if it was Ash's or hers.

She let the tears flow freely from her eyes, just letting herself completely sob everything out. She was soon blubbering in her sadness, not caring if anyone could hear her.

_Get a grip May, _one part of her gently told herself.

She told it to shut the hell up.

She didn't know just how long it took her to finally come to her senses. At some point though, she finally decided to calm her childish blubbering and to get a hold of herself. She held her head in her hands, trying to think straight.

_Shit _was the only word that would actually go through her head.

She went back to square one; back to the crying. She stayed like that for a while; at one point, Ash and Brock were outside of her door, asking if they could come in. She just remembered she had yelled at them to go away, and they didn't press anymore. Solidad stopped by at another point as well; May had left the door unlocked. The twenty-some year old coordinator sat on the foot of May's bed, stroking her, and saying how sorry she was. Solidad had stayed for a while; she left once May saw that the sun was beginning to set. At one point, the sun had disappeared over the horizon, and darkness engulfed the room. Ash and Brock had slowly walked in, trying not to disrupt her.

"May? You okay?" Brock said quietly, sitting down next to her. While tears still streamed down her face, she finally managed to get a hold of her wailing. No way would she ever let the boys see her the way she was.

She felt someone sit down to the other side of her; Ash, she took it. He gently stroked her back, attempting to soothe her just as Solidad had.

"You want to go to bed?" Ash asked gently. May managed a nod.

"Okay," Ash said quietly. He hesitated, but kissed her on the head before he walked away.

May could hear Brock say "Good job" to Ash under his breath.

She couldn't remember when exactly she had managed to cry herself to sleep, but she woke up later that night. It was dark in the room, and Ash and Brock were fast asleep. May brought her hand to her face, seeing that it was still. She looked around the room, feeling slightly disoriented. She suddenly realized that she hadn't fallen asleep in her own bed. She turned and saw Ash fast asleep in hers, and her in Ash's. Hmm…he hadn't moved her…_Thanks Ash, _she thought to herself. She felt a glimmer of hope, realizing that she could finally think straight again.

_So, _May sadly thought to herself, _Drew kissed Sarah._

She bit her lip, trying to not cry at what she had seen that day. Sarah had been clinging on to Drew's arm, her fat lips all over Drew's face. That wasn't even what got May the most; what really pushed her was the fact that Drew seemed to be _enjoying _every ounce of Sarah's attention.

May suddenly felt a wave of bitterness go through her. _How could I be so dumb?_ May thought to herself. Just moments before Drew and Sarah had been kissing on the field, she had finally been able to admit to herself that she had feelings for Drew. May rolled her eyes, feeling like a complete idiot. _What stupid thought did I have that made me think I had a chance? It's been years since he's ever done anything even mildly romantic…_

Almost instantaneously, May's mind went to Drew's note from her. She frowned, realizing that thinking about that wouldn't give her any closure. _That's exactly what I need; closure. _

_Don't say that May, _the less bitter part of her whispered. _You still have that note. Read it._

She shook her head. _No. I need to move on._

_ May, you don't even know if they were real feelings. Figure it out. Read the note._

Bitter May shook her head again, not wanting to listen to her other half. Yet, after the prying, she realized that as bad as it would be for her to read Drew's note, she wanted to. She truly did.

"I'm going to regret this…" She thought to herself, reaching for her bag. Her hands were trembling as she reached to the bottom of the bag, knowing exactly where Drew's note was. Her breathing became uneven as she slowly unfolded the note. She took a very deep breath just before she read it.

May—

I know what you're thinking. We've all seen it before, and we know you have it in you. So stick to that.

- Drew

Big fat tears rolled down her face, finally realizing exactly what had been wrong with her this entire time. After reading Drew's note, she felt as if all of her dignity had been sapped out of her. She could finally admit exactly what she had been feeling, and now, she knew exactly what it was. This entire time she had been too stubborn to admit what she knew was true.

"I love him," she whispered. _No, correction, _she thought; _I'm _in _love with him. I don't give a damn that he's with that Sarah. I love him. I love him more than I ever thought…_

The note did exactly what May feared it would have done. It made her feel weak; powerless. She saw just exactly how weak she was; weak enough to openly admit her love to someone who was with another person.

She let the big, hot tears roll down her cheeks. She was in love with Drew; her rival. Her rival, who now was in a relationship with Sarah, her enemy. Her rival who had already broken her heart, even though she only realized she had feelings for him moments before.

_Who am I kidding? _She thought to herself._ I've always had feelings for him. I just couldn't admit it. Now that I can, it's too late…_

Just before May's head hit the pillow again, she realized just how desperate she was. She _wanted _Drew; correction, she _needed _Drew. She had been playing a game the three years she had been without him; and, here she was, without him again. She was going to have to try to find a way to forget him; she couldn't let one person have so much influence over her. She wouldn't give him that kind of power.

She completely blotted sweet May out of her mind, letting bitter May take over.

_I'm desperately in love with him, _she thought to herself. _I need to forget the bastard._

With that, May surrendered herself, letting the sadness and hatred inside of her completely consume her old self.

A/N: Oh, that was a very nice cliffy, wasn't it? So, you got your action; May finally is able to admit she loves Drew…but not under the best circumstance.

Now, the story is going to be like this from here on out. I'm not going to be updating for a little while (For time frame's sake), so you guys can be kept on the suspense

For your next chapter, I would actually appreciate a few reviews myself….that is all.

--Vikki

Ps. I'll be updating approximately two weeks from now; I'm going to get a head start on another Pokémon story I'm working on. Check my profile for more info about that. Remember…be here, on the internet, February 21st for chapter eleven


	11. Encounters

A/N: I'm back!

Wow, you guys sure did _love _Sarah, didn't you? Don't worry…you'll see what her purpose was in later chapters. For now, she sort of made just a one-chapter appearance.

Anyway, enjoy,

Vikki

Encounters

Damn that stupid Sarah.

It had lasted maybe a month or two with that coordinator; he was convinced that maybe, just maybe, she would be the right girl for him. Literally a day before Sarah dumped him for some surfer boy from Slateport City, he had bought an apartment out in Lilycove city just so he could live closer to her. Now, here he was; having no place to go, he stayed in Lilycove city. He was annoyed that he had let himself become that thick; he and Sarah had never gotten very far in their relationship. She had promised that once they had an apartment together, they could become intimate. And, of course, he realized all too late that he was just someone for her to play around with.

Drew had always felt that with Sarah, something just…wasn't there. The girl had attitude; she was very headstrong. She was also very passionate about what she did. That being said, anything that revolved around guys Sarah got bored of easily. Apparently, Drew was just a "spur of the moment" boy that happened to be around when she was bored at the Kanto Grand Festival.

Drew hadn't really had feelings for Sarah; she was just the girl at the Grand Festival that had managed to catch his eye. Maybe that was partially because she literally would throw herself at him…but that was beside the point. He hadn't expected to ever end up with the girl in the first place, and well, he did.

Drew was sitting at his kitchen counter one morning, drinking his coffee. He stared out of his dirty apartment window, looking at the sunrise. He frowned at the ribbon cup further down the counter; he hadn't yet bothered to put it in a display case or anything. His bag with his pokeballs was slung over the chair next to him. He sighed, reaching into the brown sac and pulling out the pokeball that contained his roserade. He looked back out the window.

He tossed his pokeball in the air. "Come out roserade," he said quietly.

After a flash of light, the flower like Pokémon came out. She looked dazed and confused. With a smirk, Drew stroked his Pokémon.

"Morning bud," he said quietly. The Pokémon gave him a small smile, still groggy.

"Someone's sleepy," he mumbled. Roserade gave his a very shallow nod. Feeling an instinct, he stood up, grabbing his jacket that was on the floor next to him. Roserade eyed him in confusion.

"Why don't we take a walk?" he asked. The Pokémon merely shrugged, following her coordinator out the door.

Drew and Roserade walked side by side down the street in a peaceful silence. Drew grimly smiled to himself. _Pokémon are easy…people are hard. _He nodded at his words; they couldn't have been truer. He had begun to lose touch with the world the past few months after the grand festival; more correctly, after Sarah had run off with that Daren person, or whatever his name was. He felt alone out in Lilycove city; sometimes, as corny as it would sound, he would wish for some godsend to come out and just save him from the bleakness that was his life.

It came in the form of a nuisance.

Drew didn't remember when he ended up walking down the beach, but at one point he did. Further along the shoreline, there was a lopunny sprinting down the shore, with a dark haired coordinator running behind him.

"Lopunny, cut it out!" the girl yelled. She looked as if she was fifteen or so, and her Pokémon was out running her. Drew, rolling his eyes, motioned for the Pokémon to come towards him. Without hesitation, the Lopunny hopped into his arms happily, giggling at her trainer. The dark haired girl smiled, walking up to Drew.

"Oh gosh, thank…" the girl's voice trailed off, and her smiled faded. A frown was on her face. "Oh, great; you again."

"What are you…" Drew began, but suddenly realized that the girl was very familiar. He flashed back to his time in the Kanto region, and remembered he had bumped into a girl very similar to the one that was before him now at the Mulberry City Pokémon center; only this time, her hair was dark blue rather than the raven colored he had remembered it to be…or, maybe it had been blue then…

"Give me my Pokémon back," the girl said with an eye-roll, putting her hand out and motioning for her Pokémon.

Drew smirked, slowly handing the dark haired girl her Pokémon. "What, you aren't happy to see me?"

She sneered. "I'm absolutely _ecstatic. _It's nice to see perpetual jerks completely by chance more than once," she stated, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

"Glad you're happy," he said with an eye-roll. "It's fantastic to see annoying brats again too."

She rolled her eyes. "I bet you're really popular amongst the bimbos."

"I bet you're really popular amongst the perverts, seeing the way you just show off your goods."

"Oh, so _I'm _the showoff?" she shouted, exasperated and laughing. "Oh, _wow._ What does that make you?"

He shrugged. "Someone who's entitled."

"And I'm _not?"_

"Um, no, considering the fact that you annoy the crap out of me."

Her face turned red. "Excuse me, do I even know you?"

"We have met before; you know, just a reminder, considering the fact that you probably empty your brain daily."

"Uh huh? Well, before you go and rudely insult a complete stranger, can I at least get a name from you? You know, so they figure out who you are after I kick your ass?"

"That sounds like a threat. I'm sorry, but that's not going to happen, blue haired chick with the Lopunny."

She snorted, looking at him unbelievably. "Oh, so now I'm _blue haired chick with the Lopunny. _What does that make you; green haired guy with the roserade?"

Drew snorted. "Please, do you think you could have—"

"Wait," she shouted suddenly.

Drew looked at her in confusion, "What are you—"

"Shh!" she shouted, putting her hand out in front of him, thinking. She was now looking off at the horizon, as if trying to figure something out. She suddenly snapped her head back to Drew, realization lit in her eyes.

"Green haired guy with the roserade…wait, you're a coordinator, right?"

"Yeah…" Drew said hesitantly, starting to become a bit shaken by the girl's attitude. "What does that—"

"And you competed in the Kanto Grand Festival this year, right?"

Drew looked at the girl, wondering exactly how she knew so much about him. "Excuse me…but who are you?"

She turned her gaze back to Drew, and suddenly stuck out her hand for him to shake. "I'm Dawn…you know a friend of mine, May."

Drew looked at Dawn for a second, not quite ready to believe her. So _this _was the Dawn May had been telling him about? He looked the girl over, shaking his head. The world wasn't small enough for this to be the same person that May had been describing. However, now that Drew thought about it, she fit Dawn's description. She had the blue hair, and she was around fifteen years old. Drew frowned, realizing that she also had a Lopunny, which was the evolution of Buneary; he had remembered May saying something about how Dawn's Buneary had a crush on Ash's Pikachu…

_May, _Drew thought, remembering his old rival. He hadn't seen her in six months since they had bumped into each other at the Grand Festival. Only now did he realize he had never gotten a chance to say goodbye…

"Drew," he said finally, shaking Dawn's hand and introducing himself. "Though I'm sure you know that."

Dawn smirked. "You bet I do. May talks about you…"

He felt his heart skip a beat, though he tried to act cool. "Is that right?"

She rolled her eyes. "That was uncool move you pulled on her at the Kanto Grand Festival, Drew."

Drew was surprised by Dawn's sudden remark. "What are you…"

She snorted, holding her hand out as his voice trailed off. "C'mon Drew; even if you're half the guy May claims you are, you honestly think that running off with random coordinator is going to make her jealous?"

Drew looked at Dawn, stunned. "What?"

She groaned, bringing her hand to her head. She bit her lip, trying to find the right words to say. "Why did you have a public make-out session with that Sarah person?"

Drew slowly wrapped his head around Dawn's words, suddenly realizing what she was saying. "Wait a minute…what the hell does that have to do with May?"

Dawn groaned yet again, burying her head in her hands. "Oh my word, you're _clueless!"_ She took her head out of her hand, and put her hand on Drew's shoulder. "The girl's got feelings for you Drew! Isn't it obvious? And to be honest, from the way your face looked after I said that, it looks like you feel the same about her!"

Drew, now beyond confused and no where near following Dawn, just looked at her. "I know Sarah had feelings for me, dumbass, just the way I do for her; we dated after all."

Dawn looked at Drew in complete and total disbelief, taking her hand off of his shoulder. She let out a brief laugh.

"May! You idiot; I don't give a damn about _Sarah. _I'm taking about _May! _Remember her? The girl whose heart you broke?"

Drew slowly let Dawn's words sink in, finally realizing exactly she was saying. Dawn had been telling Drew that he had broken May's heart by kissing Sarah at the Grand Festival. Drew shook his head, knowing that May was stronger than that.

"Dawn, you've got your facts wrong."

"Excuse me, when's the last time you spoke to her?"

Drew blushed, suddenly realizing that it was _before _he and Sarah had gotten together. "That's not the point," he said quickly. "The point is, she's just a friend."

Dawn snorted, and suddenly burst into a fit of laughter. Drew, now pink with embarrassment, was becoming a bit impatient. "What?"

Calming down, Dawn looked back at Drew. "Gee, I don't know; let's see. Well, she's completely immersed herself into coordinating."

"How exactly does that make her heartbroken?"

"You didn't let me finish," Dawn said quickly, "Her style changed. She's really…well, bitchy."

Drew blinked, not letting those words process through his brain. "Bitchy?" he stated blankly, looking Dawn dead in the eye. "Bitchy…" he said again, trying to figure out the meaning behind her words. He simply shook his head. "The one word you choose to describe May, of all people, is _bitchy?" _He shook his head, assuming that May's friend was insane or something along the lines of that. She rolled her eyes.

"Drew I'm dead serious. She's…different," Dawn said, quietly. Drew analyzed Dawn, seeing that the spark he had seen before in her eyes had disappeared. He groaned.

"What makes you think I'll believe you?" he asked, now a bit irritated. She shrugged and sighed.

"Look, I don't know." She let out a bitter laugh and turned back to Drew. "Maybe it's the fact that she could talk about you for hours on end like she has before…and the fact that whenever I mention your name to her, she becomes about as red as a chimchar." Dawn shrugged, now picking at her purple nail polish and speaking nonchalantly. "Or, it could possibly be the fact that she refuses to talk to me through videophone…or Ash or Brock or anyone else. When I do get a hold of her, you can imagine how she is though." Dawn shrugged yet again; this time, Drew thought he saw her eyes become glassy. She laughed and turned back to him. "Believe me if you want, but I'll tell you one thing Drew; this is your mess. I can't fix it, and neither can anyone else."

With that, Dawn returned her Lopunny to her pokeball and walked down the shoreline, sticking her hands in her pockets.

Drew let Dawn's words sink in, realizing that everything she had said could very well be true. So what if he had just met her; to be saying what she had said to a complete stranger she had previously loathed, it would have to mean _something. _Drew turned back around, seeing that Dawn hadn't walked very far yet.

"Where is she?" He yelled over the wind coming from the ocean. Dawn stopped in her tracks and turned around.

"The Jhoto Region," she said after a pause. Drew looked at her in confusion.

"Again?"

"I didn't send her there," she replied flatly, zipping up her jacket. "Tell her to videophone me when she's done being a bitch."

Drew nodded slowly, letting Dawn's words sink in. "Sure."

With a half-hearted smile and a wave, Dawn turned back around and walked away. Drew stayed in his spot, and far too late, returned a very small wave. He turned back to his Roserade, who had been forgotten.

"Okay Roserade," he said, stroking his Pokémon. "Ready for a trip?"

The Pokémon merely shrugged. Drew gave a small smile and put his arm on her back, as the two turned around and began to walk back to their apartment.

His encounter with Dawn had definitely been strange; someone who he had thought was just an annoying coordinator turned out to be May's friend. Drew shook his in disbelief, thinking that his entire encounter had been nothing but a scam. It couldn't have been anything else; what were the odds that out of all the people on the planet, the person he had happened to run into twice had been Dawn, on two completely random occasions? Yet, for reasons he didn't know, Drew believed her all the way. As unlikely as everything had been, he believed that everything she'd said had been the truth.

"Jhoto, huh?" he murmured under his breath.

It suddenly struck Drew as weird that he was willing to go through with everything to find May; what the hell would he do when he saw her anyway? If what Dawn had said was true, and if May really _had _feelings for Drew…he didn't know what he would do. He blushed, thinking of the times that he would wonder if maybe, just maybe, he had feelings for May. He shook his head, but for some reason, he couldn't find it in himself to deny what he had just thought. He didn't know _where _May ranked on his friendship scale, but that didn't matter.

What mattered now was the fact that he was about to go halfway around the world to comfort his formal rival for some reason he had yet to figure out.

A/N: Ooh, the drama! Hope you guys enjoyed this one, and hopefully you'll like the next chapter.

Until then, believe in yourself, and believe in others. It helps

--Vikki


	12. Time

A/N: Hello again wonderful people! So, time for the next installment of _Notes and Roses. _By the way, I'm currently working on a new story, and it should be up and running once I finish this one. I've already finished writing _Notes and Roses, _so (hurray!) there's no chance of me ever abandoning this

Love,

~Vikki

Time

When the hell did May end up in Goldenrod City?

Somewhere along the way, she'd already gotten two ribbons; now, here she was, in the biggest city in the entire stupid Jhoto region, on her way to getting her third. She shook her head, wondering exactly why she didn't change her battling style sooner. She still had a long way to go until the grand festival, and from the looks of it, she was already set.

May was standing on her balcony by her room at the Pokémon center, holding her birthday cards in her hands. She'd gotten a few; one from Ash and Brock, one from her parents, and one from Max. She'd gotten more than she'd expected, considering the fact she hadn't spoken to anyone since before the Kanto Grand Festival. May's expression soured just thinking about that god damned festival; she blocked the thought of her head, trying to forget it completely.

Her eighteenth birthday had come and gone; it wasn't unlike any other, except for the fact that she was traveling alone again. Although she'd been on her own before, this time was different; the last time she'd been alone, she'd been trying to find herself. Now, here she was, champion of the Jhoto Grand festival; her only goal was to win this time. May's lip curled up at the thought of how easy it was going to be to win, but she reminded herself again to stay focused. Her lips set back into their permanent purse, and she looked over at the horizon. She looked at it in disgust; _it's sunset again, _she thought to herself. She shook her head, feeling a bitter taste wash through her mouth.

She turned away from her balcony, and walked back into her room. As she walked in, she didn't feel much warmer inside than when she was out on the balcony. She frowned and crossed her arms; _you think they'd have better air conditioning ._Sighing, she flopped down onto her bed. She thought about the contest she would have to face the next day; weak May probably would have been a mess of nerves at the moment. May felt a bit smug on the inside; she wasn't weak anymore. She was stronger than she ever had been. She ran her hands across the six pokeballs on her belt, stopping and thinking about each one. She did this quite often; sometimes she didn't even know what she was doing. When she was thinking about her Pokémon, she was scoping out their flaws and trying to find ways to make them stronger. She tried not to think of the toll it took on their energy, but it didn't matter too much anyway. She was the trainer, and they were just her Pokémon.

_No trainer should ever treat their Pokémon that way._

May shuddered and sat upright, trying to figure out what she had just heard. She let the thought process, and then she remembered that she simply having a flashback. Solidad had said that, a very long time ago; it was after May had just met her. During May's first time at the Kanto Grand Festival, Drew had had an episode, and had begun…mistreating his absol, to put it lightly.

_Drew._

Immediately, May numbed herself. She wouldn't let that name go through her brain; she just wouldn't. She'd left all memories of him behind, and he was nothing more than a person who had just made an appearance in her life.

Her thoughts went back to the Goldenrod city contest. Although she'd already analyzed just how she would win—and being certain she would—she felt the need to go outside and train. She hadn't trained as much as she would have liked with her Pokémon, and it gave her just a bit of an uneasy thought.

_He's got feelings for you._

May's mind stopped straying, and she looked around the room, although she knew quite well that Solidad wasn't anywhere near her. The numbness didn't come as quickly as she thought it would; it took a while for her to blot out the feeling inside of her. Still, it disappeared none the less.

_Get the hell out of my head Solidad, _she thought angrily. She refocused herself and went back to figuring out just how to deal with her Glaceon; surely she could add more power into the ice beam that they had been working on. May made a mental note to work harder on that move.

_A little birdie told me you had a thing for a certain green haired coordinator._

May bit her lip; this time, it was Ash that was inside her head. She shook her head, waiting for the pain to pass, and for the numbness to come back.

It never did.

The last time May had cried had been right after the Kanto Grand festival, and for the same reason she felt the fat, hot tears come to her eyes at that second.

She was in love with Drew.

"What the hell?" she shouted over her tears and through her hysteria. To any outsider, she would look like a wackjob who was having an episode. "Why the hell do I have to fall for _him, _of all people!" She wailed, not caring if she sounded like a mindless child. "And the stupid things is…" she wailed again, before continuing, "I _know _I don't have a damn chance! He's with that…that bitch!"

She flopped onto her bed, just letting herself sob everything out. _You're being a baby May, _bitter May said to her. _Let him go. You know you can; you've dealt all this time without any pain._

_ Shut the hell up _another part of May said to bitter May.  
She opted to listen to her other part.

She didn't know just for how long she had been lying there; maybe it was only a few minutes, or a couple of hours. At one point or another, she had silenced her wails, and merely let the stupid tears just flow down her face. Her face began to dry out and tighten up, but she didn't care. It felt _good _to cry; it had been the first time in a long time she'd actually felt anything. She didn't care if her reason was stupid, she just needed to let everything out. And, after awhile, she had; all the tears had been emptied from her eyes. She took a deep breath, finally able to get a hold of her thoughts.

"Okay May," she said to herself, very quietly. "You can have five more minutes with your memories of him; after that, you've got to focus."

May sighed; her breath was still shaky, but she was in control. She looked around the dimly lit room; she mildly wondered what the time was, but kept her gaze focused on her bag. She shakily walked over to her brown cargo bag, dumping the contents of it onto her bed.

Eight years of memories were laid out in front of her; although she would periodically clean out the mess that was her bag, she kept the important stuff in there.

Exhibit A turned out to be the charm bracelet.

Nearly a year before, for her seventeenth birthday, Brock had given her a charm bracelet; most of the charms were simply of her Pokémon, with the exception of a miniature contest ribbon and a rose. She held the bracelet up to her eyes, looking at the detailing of the rose charm. It was red, just like the roses Drew had given her when they were younger. May frowned, realizing the last time she'd gotten a rose from him had been merely four years before.

May laughed, stumbling upon exhibit B. It was the business card from the pastry shop in the Sinnoh region she had been to when she was visiting Dawn, Ash, and company. Outside of that pastry shop, they'd had that conversation about specific love interests; Ash and otherwise. Most of her conversation with her had more to do with Dawn herself, Ash, and Misty, but still held the memory of that conversation.

And, of course, exhibit C. Drew's note.

May was at a loss for words (or thoughts, rather) regarding the note. She'd gotten it nearly four years ago, and it was still lying around her bag. She'd memorized the thing a very long time ago, yet at the moment, she couldn't bring herself to recite the note from memory. With trembling hands, she slowly unfolded the very much abused note.

May—

I know what you're thinking. We've all seen it before, and we know you have it in you. So stick to that.

- Drew

As May threw her belongings back into her bag, she tried very hard not to think about Drew's note.

She failed.

_So much for the five minute idea…_ She thought to herself, climbing into bed. Who cared if it was only eight in the evening?

May thought about so much, the actual thoughts meant little. She analyzed every bit of information she knew about Drew; what he looked like, how he smiled, what he wore…by the end of the night, if May had wanted to, she could have written a biography of him. She came to the conclusion that she had immersed herself into an obsession that wasn't worth it; Drew had run off with Sarah, and she had been there to witness everything. To be quite honest, he could have very well been in Sarah's bed at that same moment. And, despite knowing that her chances with Drew were second to none, May couldn't help but be in love with him.

May sighed, feeling sleep about to consume her.

_You got your night to think about him May; it's going to be the last. Forget him_.

That being said, just before May went to bed, Solidad invaded her head one last time.

_He has feelings for you…_

A/N: Poor May! She's hurting over _nothing._

Anyway, stay tuned for chapter thirteen!

--Vikki


	13. Denial

A/N: Well, chapter 13 will hopefully be more intense than the last one… . Enjoy.

--Vikki

Denial

Seven months.

Seven god damned months.

That was how long Drew had bad been on the road looking for May, without luck.

After Drew had run into Dawn that one day on the Lilycove City beach…to put a fine point on it, he took her advice. Before he could realize what the hell he was doing, he already had a cruise ticket to Olivine City. And, here he was; seven months later, running around the Jhoto region. Sure, he'd been close to running into May a few times; he would barely miss her as she would leave her contests. He was always only a day or so late.

Thanks for the lead, Dawn.

There he was, somewhere by Mt. Silver, still without much of a lead. He was walking along one of the neighboring routes; he didn't know what number he was on. He just knew that he was on his way to Mt. Silver. Roserade and his other Pokémon were safely in their pokeballs, resting for no reason at all. Drew kicked a nearby rock as far as he could, letting his mind wander.

_May, _he thought to himself. May, his former rival from the Hoenn region; a rival he hadn't seen in nearly a year. May, the girl that he had somehow managed to form feelings for. _May._

Drew had been thinking about May a lot recently, though he never really knew he was thinking about her until he suddenly had pictures of the two of them making out flashing through his head. He would shake it off; at first, he would wonder why the hell he would even _think _something like that. It wasn't like he had ever liked May in that sense, after all.

As time passed though, Drew began to think more openly. He could almost see himself with her sometimes. He would just be walking down the street, wondering where the hell she was, and then—just like that—the fantasies would come. Drew would often just try to ignore the thoughts, or at least deny them. As time went by though, denying had become…harder. It was harder for him to believe the lie he had been living; what would it take to get a guy to try to hunt down a girl for seven months? It couldn't mean that they were simply friends…

And, whether Drew liked it or not, this journey did exactly what he had feared it would.

He had fallen for May.

"Stupid, stupid me," he muttered under his breath in frustration. Why _him, _of all people? Drew wasn't supposed to fall for a girl; the girls were supposed to fall for _him. _After he had won the grand festival, it had taken a lot for him to get away from some gaggle of fan-girls. And, despite having seen some extremely attractive girls in the past, he realized, he couldn't bring him self to be infatuated with them. Not only the fan girls, but now that he wasn't in denial any longer, he realized it had been the exact same way with Sarah too. He realized that—no matter how gorgeous the person was—he could only ever picture himself with _one person. _

The same person he had trying to find for seven freaking months.

How could _he, _winner of the Kanto grand festival, be the one falling for her? How could he stoop to such a low level? Once he had gotten past denying his feelings for May, he began to see things in a completely different light; when he would pass girls on the street, he would notice the ones that had the same cautious edge in their walk as she did. He would notice the girl with the sweet, knowing smile; he would notice the girl that had that signature smell…

Drew shook his head, returning to reality. He had to stay focused; he needed to find May. That was his mission after all; find her. He didn't exactly know what he would do once he did…hell, he didn't have the smallest idea. Dawn had told him to help May and to take her out of her bitchiness; now that Drew was on the road though and actually looking for her, he wondered exactly why he decided to search for May in the first place. He had already gotten past lying to himself about his feelings; that much he had accomplished.

He still didn't know why the hell he was looking for her though.

"Dammit Drew," he muttered to himself. Damn everything. Why would he be the one that would end up falling for the girl? It just didn't make sense.

_Focus, _he reminded himself. He couldn't lose his way; not yet. He needed to focus on finding May first; then, he could get his feelings sorted out. _Find her, then figure it out; find her, then figure it out…_

"Drew?"

He stopped, turning to the voice that had just said his name. At first, he couldn't see through the thick mob of people—when the hell did he get to Mt. Silver?—that were suddenly around him. He doubted that there were any fan girls around; besides, he'd heard the voice before. He just couldn't remember who it was…

Then of course, he saw the pink haired twenty-some coordinator. She smiled, quickly making her way over to him.

"Well, I guess it's Kanto Grand festival alumni, huh?"

He'd never been so glad to see Solidad in his entire life.

"How you doing Solidad?" He said with a smile, giving the coordinator a hug. She laughed.

"Well, I feel short," she said, pulling back with a grin. "Never remembered you being so tall…"

He let out a throaty chuckle, running his hand through his hair. "Yeah…guess I hit my growth spurt a little late…"

She smiled. "Better late than never."

He nodded in agreement. "Yeah…so, how long has it been?"

"A year, right?" she said with a little smirk. "Funny…seems like it's been shorter than that. What have you been up to?"

Drew's face turned red, not quite sure what to tell Solidad. A white lie wouldn't hurt, right?" "You know…a bit of coordinating here and there…" he stopped talking when he saw Solidad roll her eyes.

"I talk to Brock you know."

He groaned, suddenly realizing what that meant. "Dawn told him?"

She nodded grimly, shifting uncomfortably. "You want to talk?"

He looked around the street, into the faces of the unknown people. He couldn't help but notice that one happened to look a lot like May. She had caramel hair, and she seemed very unsure of herself…

He snapped myself back to reality, and turned back to Solidad.

"Yeah…" he said finally. "Um, yeah. That's actually just what I need."

She gave me a small smile, motioning down the street. "Shall we?"

He just gave her a nod.

They walked together in silence for a while; he didn't even know where they were going until we stopped outside of some random Pokemart. A few rickety benches were right outside the store, so Solidad walked over to one and sat down. He mimicked her, trying not to sit too close. They were quiet for a long time.

"Why did you agree to look for May?" Solidad said in one breath, not wanting to meet his gaze. They were both looking at the ground ahead of them, not wanting to look the other in the face.

He shrugged. "I honestly don't know…spur of the moment?"

She nodded, taking in what he'd just said. Then she shook her head. "No…no, I honestly don't think it was just spur of the moment Drew."

Drew sighed. "I don't know what it was Solidad…I bumped into Dawn, then the next thing I knew…" his voice trailed off, stopping himself before he could pour his guts out to Solidad. She didn't need to know too much.

She smiled faintly. "I get it; next thing you knew, you were in love with her."

Drew blushed instantaneously, quickly trying to cover up the assumption that Solidad had just made. "Solidad, I wouldn't go _that _far."

She smiled, but shook her head. "Drew; listen to me. You're a great coordinator, but you can be so naïve sometimes."

He looked at her, taken aback. "Me? Naïve?"

She laughed. "Well, what am I supposed to call a person that's been in love with someone for at least seven years and has yet to realize it?"

Drew scrambled for something witty to say. "I am not in love with May. What would make you think that?"

She rolled her eyes, a smug grin on her face. "Well, let's see; you would give her roses. And, out of all of the great trainers that you had battled on your journeys, you would always talk about May. As if that isn't enough proof, I saw the way you acted towards her at the Kanto Grand festival; if that doesn't make any difference to you, then I would also like to point out the fact that you haven't given up on her either."

Drew snorted, trying to sound confident. "Hardly. I've never been in love with her, so what would make you think that I had ever thought about giving up on her?"

Solidad rolled her eyes, now clear that she wasn't approaching what she was trying to say in the right way. She opted to use an analogy. "Drew, did I tell you about how Brock would act when he was younger?"

Drew eyed Solidad strangely, surprised with the direction the conversation had taken. "No…"

She gave him a faint smile. "We were maybe thirteen or so…he was about to start running the Pewter city gym. To just get to the point, prior to that, he only had a thing for me." She laughed, smiling at the memory. "He would shower me with compliments, leave bouquets of flowers at my doorstep, write poetry…the whole deal." Her smiled faltered; Drew took it that this was where the meaning behind the story lay. "Needless to say, I didn't return Brock's feelings. My exact words to him when I rejected him were; 'there are so many other beautiful women out there…talk to them.'" She turned back to Drew, her smile returning, but with a hint of bitterness behind it. "Before I said that Drew, he hadn't looked twice in another woman's direction; he would spend all of his time on me. I didn't even know the damage I did until I saw it for myself; apparently, he took my advice to literally. He's quite the player now…" She trailed off, looking back at Drew.

Drew nodded slowly, though he didn't quite get the point Solidad was trying to make. "So what does that have to do with me and May?"

She gave him a knowing smile. "Brock gave up on me Drew; he moved on. Sure, he'll go back to his old ways every once in a while…but things weren't the way they used to be. You don't even know that you love May; to be honest, I never thought you did. But Drew, if I want you to learn anything from I've told you, it's this; a guy who goes halfway around the world and runs around the entire Jhoto region for seven months just to find a girl hasn't given up on her yet."

Drew let Solidad's words sink in. Then, in just a fraction of a second, it all clicked. He didn't know if it was Solidad's analogy, a sudden brain surge of his own, or if he had known all along, but he finally realized what he'd been denying for such a long time. He didn't even know when it happened; though now that he saw it in the light Solidad had shed it in, it probably had happened at least seven years ago, if not more. He had been wrong; he wasn't falling for May.

He was in love with her; correction, he was absolutely obsessed with her.

Drew looked back at Solidad, realization spread across his face. She gave him a smile, and patted his hand. She slowly stood up, looking out beyond the horizon. Suddenly, fireworks illuminated the sky. Drew mildly wondered when it had become nighttime, but then he realized, he didn't care.

"You should probably find her before you miss her," she said slowly, "otherwise that would really suck."

"What do you mean?" Drew asked, confused. Solidad didn't respond, but merely pointed to the pokemart.

"What does the pokemart have to do with anything?" Drew asked, still confused. Then, as he looked again, he realized he hadn't seen the television screen. He squinted his eyes in the darkness, trying to look at the figures on the screen. He saw the MC—whose name he hadn't been able to remember at the moment—hand a brunette the golden ribbon cup…

Drew's jaw dropped as he realized that the girl was May.

It wasn't that she looked any different; she looked the same as she had nearly a year ago. It was just the fact that Drew hadn't seen May in so long, and that looking at her was a real reality check. If anything though, Drew had noticed one change in May; the light from her eyes had disappeared. There was no happiness behind the smile that was plastered across her face; there was no celebration in her vibe. She was completely empty.

"She won," Drew said flatly, not able to tear his eyes away from the television screen. Of course, he knew what that meant; he'd missed his deadline. The grand festival had already happened, and he hadn't known.

Solidad sighed, putting her hand on his shoulder. "And she's not sticking around for the after party, or so the magazine rumors say" she said blankly. Drew turned back to her.

"I'm too late," he realized. He shook his head. "No…no, I'm too late. If she's leaving right now then…"

Solidad gave him a brief smile, putting her other hand on his shoulder. "Drew, I want you to listen to me. May's not the same person you remember her as; she somehow found her inner bitch, and she let her completely take over. But listen, Drew; the May you love is still inside of her. You're the only person that could bring it out; I know you can. You _need _to get her in time," Solidad continued, her voice becoming more intense and empowering. "Drew, you barely have enough time; if you run, you just might catch her before her boat leaves. You need to though; this is your last chance Drew." She looked over at the sky, seeing that the fireworks had died. She pushed Drew off of the bench. "Go!" she yelled.

Drew nodded, already starting to run to the nearest port. "Thank you!" he called over his shoulder.

As Drew ran through the darkness, racking his mind for any information as to where the nearest port would be. _Okay…I'm at Mt. Silver, and I need to find out where May would go to catch her boat…_Drew remembered that if anywhere, the nearest port would have to be Tohjo Falls. Once team rocket had permanently left the location, the area had been sprouting in population, and made use of the fact that they were a shoreline town.

_Dammit, _Drew thought to himself. Tohjo falls would take a while to get to; he didn't have time to find a bus. May probably wouldn't leave until the morning anyway…

As Drew silently swore to himself that he would run the entire night if that's what it took to get to Tohjo falls, Solidad's words rang even truer in his head…

_You're in love with her, Drew._

A/N: …

Well, I don't have much to say.

I just love how this is playing out at the moment…

So yeah, tell someone today that they're beautiful. It sounds crazy, I know; but then again, we could all use a little crazy in our lives, now couldn't we?

Love,

--Victoria (no nickname this time…just to change it up a bit)


	14. Confession

A/N: … the high drama chapters continue…

--Vikki

Confession

Winning the Jhoto Grand Festival had been a complete breeze.

May had won, and decided not to stick around for the after party; she saw no reason. Next thing she knew, she was off to Tohjo falls, on her way to the Sinnoh region. That was the only region she had yet to compete in, though she wasn't particularly looking forward to the experience that lay ahead of her. Then again, she wasn't looking forward to anything really.

She checked out of the Pokémon center once she woke up; she had no time to waste if she wanted to get the Sinnoh region any sooner.

"Congratulations May," Nurse Joy said to her as May handed over her room key. May didn't even thank her.

She walked out of the Pokémon center, strolling down the street to the docks where her ship was. She already had her ticket, and she was ready to get on the boat. She boarded quickly, seeing to the fact that it was a bit early for any other traveler's liking to travel. As she walked up the stairs to her room, she thought she heard her name being called. May dismissed that idea, throwing her ribbon cup onto her bed.

She sighed, thinking about the grand festival. _You've done it again May, _she grimly thought to herself. _Great. You've surprised everyone, yet again…_

So many years after winning the Jhoto Grand festival, May had finally figured out just way the media had suddenly taken such a liking towards her. It wasn't because she had crushed the other competition, as she had suspected. Her victory had been overemphasized because nobody would have expected a small town fifteen-year-old coordinator to take home the Jhoto ribbon cup; it just wasn't plausible. And, here she was; nearly three years later, with yet another ribbon cup under her belt. And, just like last time, she felt empty inside, rather than the accomplishment she should be feeling.

Only this time she knew exactly why she had felt so empty.

Sure, so she knew that the first time was linked to Drew; that was a no-brainer. She had figured that out easily. What she hadn't realized was that she felt so empty not because of the lack of competition, but because she was in love with him…and he wasn't there in her brightest moments. And, just like last time, Drew hadn't been at the Jhoto Grand Festival during her victory; he probably was half way around the world, sleeping in late with Sarah.

For the second time that day, May heard her name being called.

May frowned; _I must be losing it. I really must be losing it…_to go as far as to hear things had to be a mark of insanity, she was sure of that much. She frowned, rubbing her temples and trying to clear her thoughts; she needed to relax. All the stress she had inside of her hadn't yet melted off…

"May!"

The third time, May heard it loudly and clearly. It was no hallucination; someone was really calling her name. Despite that thought running through her head, May couldn't bring herself to move from her bed; she didn't want to have to face anyone. She hadn't spoken to her family or friends in over a year, and seeing to the fact that she had just won the Jhoto Grand Festival, it would be all too easy for some ugly reminder of her past to track her down. She didn't want to see anyone yet; she wasn't ready to. She shook her head, wondering _why _anybody would want to visit her. She tried ridiculously hard to detach herself from her life pre-Sarah, and for a long time, she had thought she had done a fairly good job.

Evidently though, she hadn't.

May groaned, throwing her head onto her pillow in her cabin. _If you act invisible, then maybe they'll go away… _May nodded, deciding she liked that idea. She let herself sink into her bed, and tried to become absolutely nothing.

The calling persisted.

_Why the hell would anybody be so eager to see me? s_he wondered. What if she hadn't done as good of a job as being a bitch as she thought she did; was that even possible though? No, May was sure she had managed to transform herself completely. She hadn't even stuck around for her own party at the Jhoto Grand festival; surely she had to have been out of herself.

Well, whether she had succeeded in becoming a bitch or not, someone was calling her name.

She groaned, looking at her options. This person was obviously not willing to give up anytime soon, whether she liked it or not. That being said, May could also just stay where she was and not move…maybe, just maybe, he or she would get tired of waiting for her to come out, and she'd get some peace of mind. Or, she could simply wait the five minutes until the ship would leave; she smiled. _Yeah, that's what I'll do._

She heard her name again.

May groaned, not believing the willpower of this person. _Why the hell would anyone want to see me so badly? _She sourly thought to herself. Rolling her eyes, she decided to at least tell whoever this nuisance was to go away; that was the least she could do, after all. She grumpily stood up from her bed, and walked right into her flip-flops; she left the room, walking out into the hallway. She rubbed her temples again; the damn person was still yelling her name. Groaning, she pushed the door to the main deck open, ready to face whoever the hell wanted to see her so badly.

At first, she didn't see them; she looked all down the dock, trying to find where they were. Then, her eyes caught it; the guy with the green hair, trying to board the ship. The security guards were somehow restraining him, despite the fight he was putting up. The shock and realization his May like a brick wall as their eyes connected.

Drew was back to ruin her life.

So many emotions consumed May at first, she didn't know exactly what was going on in her brain. She felt a combination of fear, anger, sadness, and love. As much as she didn't want to admit it, she was afraid of Drew; who wouldn't be afraid of someone that single handedly had enough power to change your life? And, at that same time, May was just _angry; _who had the nerve to come back and hurt a person more anymore than they already had? Then, sadness washed through her; the one man she loved was in a relationship with another woman. And, that brought her to her emotion of love; she already knew she was in love with him, that much she was sure about. But, seeing him before her made her realize just how deeply she really loved him, and how she would never be able to go back.

So, she ran.

She didn't even know where she was going, but she turned around, back towards her room, it looked like. She heard Drew continue to call her name.

"May!" Drew watched as she took her eyes off of him and ran back inside of the cruise ship. She turned to the security guards that were restraining him. "Let the hell go of me!" he yelled, suddenly finding the energy to break free. He ran forward, on to the ship.

"Sir, stop! We don't want to hurt you, but we will if we have to."

Drew didn't give a damn.

He ran forward, in the direction that May was going. He pushed the door open and saw May continue to quickly walk down the hallway; to where, he didn't know.

"May," he said weakly. She sped up, now breaking into a run. "May!" he yelled, running after her. She turned a corner, already having her room key ready. Drew held his breath, knowing he had just enough time to catch up to her. She quickly opened her room door, about to walk in. Just as she about to slam the door behind her, Drew caught it. The door was only a crack open, but it was enough.

"May, would you please listen to me?" he pleaded. _Damn, _he thought. _I really must like this girl to be begging…_

"Drew, leave me the hell alone." He was surprised at the anger and weakness behind May's words; it came off as cold if anything.

"Please just listen to me May, okay?"

"Why should I?" she demanded. May had her back to the door, but her face was barely visible in the small crack that Drew had managed. He took a deep breath, not quite knowing how to phrase what he was about to say correctly.

"I've been running around the Jhoto Region looking for you for nearly _seven months," _he said. He sounded tired, considering the fact that he had been up all night running from Mt. Silver to Tohjo Falls. "May, how many people do you know that would do something like that?"

May sighed; her voice wavered. "I just…I can't really take it Drew," she said, her voice very soft.

He took a deep breath. "If you're talking about Sarah, then yeah, I couldn't take it either."

May rolled her eyes. "What the hell are you talking about?"

"She left me," he said bitterly. "She left me before I could leave her."

May felt a glimpse of hope ignite inside of her. She wondered…_No, May. He's a player; don't forget that._

"Well, if that's what you came to tell me, then you can go." _He doesn't like you that way, May…he doesn't._

He groaned. "May, I didn't travel two thousand miles just to tell you I broke up with Sarah." His throat thickened, not even knowing what he was about to say, but pouring his guts out anyway. "Look, May…you don't know how frickin' hard this is for me to say, but…"

May sighed. "Drew, just go away."

Drew, now irritated, slammed his fist on the door. "No! Hell no! I'm not going to give up on you, especially now when the only thing standing in between us is a stupid door."

May was silent for a moment. "Drew, what are trying to say?" she asked softly, sounding like her old self again.

Drew took a deep breath. "I'm in love with you," he said finally, letting all of his weaknesses show. He wasn't afraid to be so exposed anymore. "I just…I'm not going to give up. I don't expect you to take me, but I'm never going to quit."

May slowly released her grip on the door, slowly letting it open. Drew's jaw dropped as he saw her face, now wet with tears.

"You love me?" she whispered. She sounded very vulnerable. "You chased me across the Jhoto region just to tell me you love me?"

Drew slowly nodded. "Yeah. I did."

May's voice was suddenly angry. "What the hell do you mean, Drew? How could you even _say _something like, 'oh, I don't expect you to take me'?!" She shook her head, then locked her gaze back to Drew's. "I can't believe you; you're so…ugh!"

Drew looked at May, confused. "What are _you _saying May?"

She sighed, and took a deep breath. She laughed briefly. "What am I saying? You know…I think what I'm saying is that I don't _care _about the amount of emotional pain you've put me through." She brought her face a bit closer to his. "You can have me, though I don't see _why _you'd want me…"

"Why not?" Drew asked softly, slowly placing his hands on May's waist.

She laughed bitterly, bringing her hands to Drew's neck. "You're _Drew; _you're too cool to ever want a girl. You wouldn't date a girl like me…"

He suddenly realized that his face was a lot closer to May's than he originally perceived. "Well, you're wrong," he said slowly.

May's nose was only inches from his. "Still arrogant though?"

He laughed roughly. "What, do you want me to change?"

"No," May shook her head, and looked into his eyes. She gave him a small smile, and whispered on his lips, "If you were any different, you wouldn't be the Drew that I'm…" she paused, and took a deep breath. "You wouldn't be the Drew I'm in love with."

Drew smiled for the first time in a while as he slowly felt the gap between him and May disappear.

At that very moment, when their lips met, everything became clear to the two of them.

All of the other emotions that May had been feeling earlier that same day had disappeared. She couldn't even remember what it had felt like to be angry with Drew; all of those irrational feelings had been replaced with the emotion of pure love. And, the best part of it was the fact that Drew had felt the exact same way; he was in love with her, just as she had fantasized. As May kissed Drew, she felt unexplainably whole; for the first time since Drew had given her the note, she felt ridiculously sure of herself. All traces of bitterness towards Drew had washed away, and were merely a memory in the back of May's head.

Further down the hall, Drew could hear the security guards yelling after him to step away from May. Hell no would he _ever _do that. He wasn't sure he remembered when he started holding May as close as he did, but her grip on him was tight. He wasn't even sure if he remembered what it felt like to kiss somebody; he couldn't even remember Sarah's name at that moment. Everything in that universe just revolved around the two of them, and that was all that mattered. For the first time ever, he wasn't ashamed that he had fallen in love with somebody. In fact, he was almost grateful that he had enough guts to ever say anything. Otherwise, he wouldn't even know what love _was. _He briefly thought about Sarah, but he could only see May's face, just as he would every other time he looked at another woman.

Drew knew that moment would have had to come to an end eventually; he had to admit though, he remembered that he had a promise to keep. May looked at him skeptically, as if to ask Drew if he were second guessing what had just happened. He smiled at May.

"By the way, Dawn told me to tell you to call her when you were done being a bitch."

May laughed, stroking Drew's neck. "Tomorrow," she said, bringing her lips back to his.

Drew decided not to argue and to just enjoy today.

A/N: Yes, it finally happened; 100 pages, 30,000 words, and fourteen chapters later. Drew and May are finally together. Now, this story is far from over…so be sure to check back soon!

Staying true to the theme of this chapter, spread the love that is in your life to other people. Share your joy, and make someone's day.

Now, I'm sure a few of you may have already noticed; I posted my new story _Frostbite _earlier today. Though it's M rated, it contains no smut or lemons. I simply made it M because I don't to poison the minds of any innocent ten-year olds browsing through the T section. In frostbite, I chose Dawn as my victim of torture XD

Blessings,

--Vikki


	15. Birthdays

A/N: Hello there, everyone. So, yes; Drew and May are _finally _together! So, fastforward eighteen months and here they are at Drew's twentieth birthday

Birthdays

Another day, another decade.  
The past year and a half of Drew's life had been the best eighteen months that anyone would ever want. Nearly eighteen months ago, Drew had (finally) managed to tell May that he was in love with her. Now, here they were in Lilycove city, celebrating his twentieth birthday together.

As the doorbell rang, Drew couldn't help but blush. "Coming!" he yelled, knowing exactly who was on his doorstep. Without surprise, May was standing on the doormat, smiling shyly.

"Happy birthday," she said, handing him a few balloons that were in her hand. Under her arm was a small gift, in silver wrapping paper.

"Hey," he said with a smile, leaning in and giving her a peck on the lips as he took the balloons from his girlfriend. He put his arm around her shoulder as the two of them walked into Drew's living room.

"So, any plans tonight?" she asked, picking up one of the DVDs on Drew's coffee table. He shrugged.

"I just picked up a few movies from the rental store around the corner; you want to stay in?"

She smiled, putting the film down. "Sounds like a plan."

Drew took the DVDs from the coffee table, looking at his options. "Let's see…this one's one a few awards," he said, motioning toward the romantic-horror.

May held his hand and gave him a smile. "You're the birthday boy."

He laughed, leaning into her. She put her hands around his neck, and brought her lips to his. He smiled, snaking his arms around her waste as he felt her cool breath on his lips. Every kiss had been like their first; sweet, but strong. Hesitant, but passionate…in a way. Either way, it never got old. Him and May had tried to keep their relationship as non-PDA as possible. (Of course, they couldn't avoid getting a few jabs from Brock and Harley when they bumped into them. Then again, that's a price they were willing to pay.) Still, when they were alone, they weren't restrained to be anyone but themselves in the public eye. The media had been eating their relationship up; "Two time Jhoto Grand Festival champion in a relationship with Kanto Grand Festival champion!" They tried their best to roll their eyes at the headlines, but at times it could get very annoying.

Drew turned back to reality, feeling May crush herself against him. He was a little surprised at first; May had always been careful when it came to the depth of their relationship. Drew abruptly pulled back, realizing that it had gone a bit too far. May eyed him in confusion.

"May, you can't honestly expect me to control my testosterone level when you're like that," he muttered, brushing a strand of hair out of her face. She blushed and laughed nervously.

"Sorry…I forget sometimes." She let out a nervous giggle, picking up the DVD Drew had recommended. "So, this one?"

He nodded, snatching the disc from her. As May made herself comfortable on the sofa, Drew placed the film into the DVD player. He walked back and sat down next to his girlfriend; May brought her head to his shoulder, and sighed. He stroked her hair as he watched the figures dance across the screen. He found it very distracting to keep his attention on the movie when May was sitting next to him though. Every once in a while, she would look in his direction and give that same nervous smile that would just make him want to break down. Despite the fact that he was fairly comfortable being himself around May, he wouldn't bring himself to those measures.

"Won a few awards, huh?" May said after a few minutes of silence.

"Yeah," Drew replied. "I think best picture and best actor…"

She sighed and laughed. "I would think it would go to best actress."

Drew eyed May skeptically. "What do you mean?"

She motioned towards the girl with the golden blonde hair, dancing on the television screen. "She acts so in love with the guy…you almost wonder if there was more to their on-screen relationship."

Drew looked at the girl, watching her dance in unison with her 'best friend,' whom she was really in love with. He saw the longing in her eyes, but it was easy to see that her friend didn't view her that way.

"Poor girl," he murmured, seeing as the boy's real girlfriend whisked him away, leaving his best friend on the dance floor, alone. He turned to May, seeing her eyes entranced at the acting. Suddenly, he saw what he thought looked like a small tear glisten on her cheek.

"You okay?" he asked gently, lightly shaking her. She snapped her attention back to Drew, the tear rolling down her face.

"What?" She saw the worried look written across Drew's face, and looked at him in confusion. Then, she noticed the tear rolling down her cheek. She quickly wiped it away, laughing. "I'm sorry. I just get so caught up in the movie sometimes…" May's voice trailed off, her eyes now distant. Drew stroked her back.

"Do you want to talk?" he asked quietly. May just laughed again.

"Who knew you could be caring?" she said with a smile, turning her attention back to him. She gave him her signature nervous smile. "Sometimes, I miss the cold Drew that would tell me that I suck at everything…"

Drew chuckled. "Please tell me you're joking."

She shrugged, sighing. "Drew…" she started, not quite knowing what to say. She appeared torn, trying to word what she was about to say correctly. She turned back to him, a faint smile on her face.

"I love you so much," she said softly, moving her hand to the back of Drew's throat. "You're…you're just everything I could have asked for, and then some." May was flushed a deep shade of purple; Drew wondered just how much courage it had taken her to say that.

"May," he started, his voice scratchy. He hadn't realized the pit that was in his throat until he started speaking. He laughed nervously. "You have…_no _idea how much it means to me to hear you say that." He brought her closer to him. Her breathing was uneven, and he felt her warm, hot breath against his mouth. She brought her lips to his, and without knowing exactly where he was going, he wrapped his arms around her waist, crushing her into him. He wondered if he'd ever kissed her like he had before; he couldn't remember ever being so forceful. She brought his face even closer to hers, smashing his lips against hers with as much strength as she could. She quickly broke their kiss to take a breath, but he heard a small moan escape from her lips involuntarily.

_I want her._

Those were the only three words running through his head, yet they seemed so alien. Drew and May's relationship hadn't ever gone this far before; they'd gone to first base, but they drew the line there. They hadn't ever actually talked about having sex before…either one or the other would break it off before they got too far. Still, they didn't have to say a word…but, judging from the way things were looking now, Drew was wondering if they would go farther than planned.

_I can't do that to her._

To stop himself from snaking his hand up her shirt, Drew pulled back abruptly. May looked at him in worry and confusion, wondering if she'd done anything wrong. He took a deep breath.

"Testosterone levels," he reminded her gently. May flushed a deep shade of crimson.

"Oh…right." She blushed, smiling nervously. "I'm sorry…"

Drew snorted. "Please. I should be thanking you if anything."

May took a deep breath. "Look, Drew…"

Before she could continue, a loud scream came from the television screen. Both Drew and May turned their attention back to the television, finally seeing where the horror had intermingled with the romance.

"We should get back to our movie," she said, blushing. Drew nodded his head and May placed her forehead back onto his shoulder.

Drew continued to watch the rest of the film. He didn't remember exactly when May had fallen asleep, but at one point he heard her mumbling during one of her dreams.

"Drew…" she mumbled, shifting her weight. Drew smiled, stroking her arm.

"Love you too," he said softly, kissing her forehead.

He actually thought he saw her smile.

A/N: Ah, love…

Anyway.

So, I've sort of-kind of-not really hinted what the next conflict in this story will be. The first (obviously) was owning up to their feelings; you'll have to wait and see what the next big issue is for them.

Until then, just spend a day hanging out with the girls (or guys, if you're a male reader.) See Robert Pattinson's _Remember Me: _trust me, Twilight fans, he redeemed himself with that movie. Just have _fun _for once.

Oh, and for all who would like, check out my new story _Frostbite._ Dawn is my victim of torture in that story XD

Love always,

Vikki


	16. Triangles

5

A/N: Oh my.

I haven't updated this in three weeks, which _completely _goes against my ethic as an author. I believe you deserve an explanation, though I'm not sure you want to hear my lame excuses. However, I'll just say that for the first time, I held my chapter hostage. (Hangs head in shame.) Then again, I did so to be able to say this:

**OH MY F**KING GOD. 100 REVIEWS PEOPLE; THANK YOU! (****insert hugs here)**

The last we saw May and Drew, they were oh-so in love…and still virgins. After dating a year and a half! Well, the story skips ahead another year and a half, right after May's twenty first birthday. Here's her reunion with Dawn

--Vikki

Triangles

Dawn hadn't been as curvy as May had remembered her.

"When did _you _hit puberty?" May cried with a laugh, running forward to embrace her nineteen year old friend. The two girls laughed, happy to see each other again. May took a step back, looking over her friend. Now that she saw her…well, to put a fine point on it, puberty seemed to be an understatement.

"About five minutes ago," Dawn said with a laugh, readjusting her skirt. She grinned. "So, how are you? How long's it been; two, three years?"

May sighed. "Too long. Everything's great."

Dawn gave her a knowing smile. "Do I get any details about the hot new boyfriend?"

May, now passed the point of blushing, merely rolled her eyes. "Three years together isn't exactly new, Dawn."

Dawn laughed, squeezing her hand. "Three years? It's seriously been _just _that long?" While Dawn continued to needle May with questions, the two girls made their way down the street, just letting their conversation flow. It turned out that Dawn was scheduled for her next Pokémon contest soon in Lilycove city, so she'd taken it upon herself to visit May.

"Does he have nice abs?"

May laughed and gently slapped Dawn on the shoulder. "C'mon, Dawn, how would I know?"

Her friend burst out laughing. "Um, well, seeing to the fact that you're his girlfriend and you've been dating for almost three years…" Dawn looked back at her friend, reading the expression on her face. Dawn's face faltered. "Wait…May, are you still---,"

"A virgin?" May smiled, sighing. She looked back at her friend's shocked expression. "Look, Dawn…to be honest, Drew and I haven't even talked about having sex yet."

Dawn stared at May in disbelief. "Whoa…back up. You've been together for three years, and you have yet to even _talk _about sleeping together?"

May shifted uncomfortably. "Yeah…"

Dawn threw her hands up in the air in disbelief. "What kind of hormone driven twenty-one year olds _are_ you?"

She turned a deep shade of red. "We're not prude if that's what you're saying."

Dawn burst out laughing, putting her hand on May's shoulder. "With a boyfriend like that May, I'm not sure you _can _be."

"And by that you mean….?"

Dawn gave May a knowing smile. "May, don't take this the wrong way…but I would personally _kill_ to be in a relationship with someone that good looking." Dawn stared off into the distance suddenly, her eyes clouded. She bit her lip, as if to keep herself from saying anything.

"You alright?" May asked gently, placing her hand on Dawn's forearm. She snapped back from her daze, lightly shaking May's hand off and forcing a smile.

"I'm fine," she said, her smile widening. The light from Dawn's eyes, however, had disappeared.

"If you say so…"

Dawn sighed in defeat. "No, May; I'm not fine."

"If you want to talk about it, then maybe I can help," May gently said. Dawn gave her a bit of smile, yet there was a distinct bitterness behind it.

"Really, May; I appreciate it, but there's no way you can help." Dawn looked back into the distance for a moment, thinking things over. She looked back to a concerned May, taking a deep breath. "If anything though, you can hear me out."

May smiled, slipping her hand into her friend's. "If that's what you want."  
Dawn took a deep breath, as if she didn't know where to begin. "Remember when you went visit me a while back; back when I was still traveling with Ash and Brock?"

May nodded; she still had the business card from the pastry shop they ate from in her bag. "Of course I remember."

"Yeah…" Dawn said slowly, nodding and biting her lip. She looked back at May. "I know it was a while ago, so I'm sure you won't remember much…but, if by any chance, do you remember me mentioning Kenny?"

_Kenny, _May thought, letting the name sink in. She'd heard it before…yes, she'd definitely heard his name before. She thought over when she had visited Dawn all those years ago…she was, what, sixteen at the time? Most of their conversation had been about Ash and Misty, and how the two had…a spark, so to speak. May smiled; _she was right. They got together shortly after that…_ she refocused, trying to remember where Kenny had come in. Then, the memories flowed back to May, clearly. Something had been bugging Dawn; apparently, she hadn't gotten the chance to confide yet in anyone about her feelings for Kenny. So, she had confided in May. Nearly six months later, when May had gotten back together with Ash and Brock, they had mentioned him. They were saying something about him chasing Dawn around the Hoenn region…

"Yes, I remember him," May said, letting the memories flow. She turned back to Dawn. "Right. Ash and Brock had told me he was running after you in the Hoenn region."

Dawn blushed, but reluctantly nodded. "Yeah. He did."

May turned to her friend, confused. "What's the problem then?"

Dawn took a deep breath, not quite knowing where to begin. "Well…we'd been flirting for a while, you know. We actually went up against one another in the final two at our last contest…we got together shortly after that." Dawn smiled at May. "He had won that contest…but it didn't matter. Going into the Grand Festival, things were starting to heat up already." There was now a bittersweet edge to her voice. "We still are. I mean, we're still together."

May looked at her, puzzled. "Okay…so you've been in a relationship with him for nearly four years. Dawn, how is that an issue?"

She groaned, not wanting to go on. "Well…recently, we decided to go back and visit our families in Little Root town. We bumped into Barry there," Dawn cringed at his name, "and he invited us to a party over at Sandgem town. Apparently, many of our old friends back from the Sinnoh region were supposed to be there." She took a deep breath, and her voice started to thicken. "Well…it didn't go too well. They were serving a lot of drinks there…I guess they were spiked. I didn't notice. The last thing I remembered was dancing with Barry…and then…" Dawn's throat thickened, and her voice was now breaking. She turned back to May, her expression pleading. "Listen, May; promise me that what I'm about to tell you won't lessen your impression of me, okay? I swear to Mew, I'm not a brainless whore that goes around and sleeps with any guy she can get her manicured hands—,"

"Dawn, back up," May interrupted, knowing what direction their conversation was about to take. "I promise you, I won't have any judgment."

Dawn looked at her doubtfully. She then slumped back onto the bench they were sitting on in defeat. "Well, you already know the jist of it." She laughed bitterly. "The next thing I know, I'm waking up in Barry's room at around three in the morning. I couldn't even think straight; Zoey had to help me get re-dressed…" Dawn voice trailed off. "I asked her what was going on, but then I put the key into the lock. It didn't take a genius to figure out what happened." Dawn's voice thickened again, now louder. "So, we both made a mutual agreement and swore never to mention a word to Kenny. Apparently, he wasn't nearly as drunk as I was. He was chatting away with Leona or something…looking around for me, but Zoey saved my ass and told him she was hanging with me the entire time, while I was really being a slut…" Dawn's voice trailed off, her eyes wandering. She shook her head, then snapped her attention back to May.

"Do you get what's going on, May?"

May gulped uncomfortably. "Well…sure, you made a mistake. But it wasn't your fault that those drinks were spiked, and I bet the alcohol did the sex for you." Dawn just shook her head sadly. May put her hand on Dawn's. "Look…Dawn, I'm not the person to talk to about this. You know I'm a virgin."

"I don't get _how _though," she said, disbelief in her voice. "What—does he not have a—"

"Don't go there!" May shouted, stopping Dawn before their conversation could take a turn for the explicit. "Erm…I wouldn't know, but he's never mentioned ever having any technical difficulties," she said slowly, color running to her face. Dawn laughed.

"I was joking," she said quickly, brushing off her skirt. "Still though…never?"

May nodded. "Yeah…never."

Dawn looked at May skeptically. "Not even third base?"

May sighed. "Try not even second base, Dawn." She turned to her shocked friend in defeat. "We've never done more than make out."

Dawn slumped back onto the bench, shock and realization consuming her. She opened her mouth to say something, but no words came out. She stopped for a moment, trying to find a way to phrase what she wanted to say.

"Here I was…thinking it was okay to have sex before marriage. I mean, look at the society we live in. I thought it was perfectly normal…" Dawn's voice trailed off; she turned back to May. "You know that Kenny and I have been having sex ever since we were sixteen?" She laughed bitterly. "We started maybe six months after we first got together…" May thought she saw a tear in the corner of Dawn's eye, but she concluded that the light was just playing tricks on her. "May, the fact that you've been with your boyfriend for almost three years and you're still a virgin makes me feel like a dirty slut."

May shook her head. "Don't say that Dawn. Everyone's different…we just happen to be extremely cautious, that's all." She laughed, seeing the expression on Dawn's face. "Just because we haven't slept together yet doesn't mean I love Drew any less than you love Kenny. Believe me—I'm really in love, Dawn." May's throat thickened. "I can't thank you enough for telling Drew to come and look for me…"

Dawn shook her head, a faint smile on her face. "No, May…you shouldn't be thanking me for anything. That was all Drew, not me. I'm just glad you aren't in the messed-up love triangle I'm in…"

"Dawn, that was the past. It happened, and there's nothing you can do about it. But the only people that know are you and Zoe. Does Barry even have an idea as to what happened?"

Dawn shook her head slowly. "No…but he will soon."

May had a puzzled look on her face. "What do you mean?"

Dawn took a deep breath; this was obviously what had blown everything out of proportion. "My period's four days late May."  
May let what Dawn has said sink in. "Okay…okay, but that's not a problem. Four days isn't a lot…" May's voice trailed off as she saw Dawn shake her head.

"It is for me," she said flatly.

May and Dawn both stayed quiet for a moment; Dawn didn't know how to continue, and May had no clue as to what she would say. The awkward silence hung over the air.

"It can't be Kenny's," Dawn said finally, clutching her lower abdomen. May rolled her eyes.

"You don't even know if you're pregnant yet Dawn," she said, putting her hand on her friend's shoulder. She shook her head

"I'm so stupid…"

"Don't say that Dawn," May said softly. "It's not your fault. Get that through your head if anything…and it's not Barry's either," May said quickly, seeing the expression on Dawn's face.

"Not his fault?" Dawn laughed bitterly. "The bastard ought to die in a hole."

May sadly shook her head. "You can't go on hating him Dawn…it's nobody's fault. It just happened."

Dawn sighed. "One night…just one stupid night and I'm pregnant."

May groaned. "Dawn, you're _not _pregnant! And who's to say it isn't Kenny's?" May looked at Dawn. "After all, you said that you two have been sleeping together for a while…" May's voice trailed off as she saw Dawn shake her head.

"No way is the baby Kenny's. We've always been really careful…" Dawn stopped talking, her voice fading. She squinted, looking out over the horizon. "May, do you see this mess I'm in? We both know I'm most likely pregnant by Barry's baby, when I'm dating _Kenny, _who doesn't even know that I slept with Barry. _Barry _doesn't even know I slept with Barry!" She laughed bitterly, turning back to May. "I'm a mess May. I'm a complete, utter mess. All because I had to go and be oversexed…" she laughed, this time more light heartedly. "Don't stop being a virgin anytime soon."

May sighed, thinking of how many times she and Drew had gone close to going farther than planned. Their three year anniversary was soon….surely sex would be brought up at one point or another.

She opted to simply lie. "Wasn't going to."

A/N: Sorry…I just felt like I had to add a "secret life of the American teenager" similar plot SOMEWHERE in this story…I picked on Dawn just because she's often portrayed as the story's slut. Sorry Dawn!

So, there you have it; Dawn's in a messed-up love triangle with Kenny and Barry. Oosh…that can't be good. Bear in mind though that although Dawn plays a major role in this story, she's still just a supporting character. The story revolves and around May and Drew.

BUT, if you would like to see more of tortured Dawn, then check out my story _Frostbite! _It's M rated—be warned—but there's nothing _too _graphic. It merely gets very suggestive.

So…until next time, goof off. Have _fun. _Being a teenager is tough, but that doesn't mean it's not fun. Remember that

--Vikki


	17. Tense

A/N:

*hides*

Um…hi guys? Wow... five weeks without updating?

-hangs head in shame-

I'm so dreadfully sorry. I'll admit, I've become a "review whore" as my friend likes to call it.

Moving on:

Okay; as I revealed in the last chapter, Drew and May are both still virgins. Considering the fact that they're twenty one and are not sexually active, it would be only human that there would be some unresolved sexual tension between them. So, enjoy chapter seventeen

--Vikki

Tense

** (*Please take your time to read the author's note at the end. It takes care of a lot of housekeeping.)**

The sexual tension was starting to get on May's nerves.

Their third year 'anniversary' had gone well—Drew had showed up on May's doorstep with a bouquet of roses, staying true to himself. They had the romantic restaurant dinner and everything—dinner, then movie. Drew kissed May goodnight, and of course, May went to bed on cloud nine.

Here she was, a few weeks later; back on the road.

She didn't remember exactly _when _she and Drew had decided to go back to coordinating again; neither of them had been in any contests for quite a while. Now that May was looking back at it though, she could sort of see when they had decided to get back to training their Pokémon. It had been a few nights after their third year anniversary; they were just walking the shoreline of Lilycove city. It was a very clear and beautiful night; maybe it had been a bit chilly, but Drew wouldn't take his arm off of May.

"So…three years," he said, looking down at the ocean. They could hear the waves lapping against the pier further down.

She blushed. "Yeah…three years."

He nodded, grasping her shoulders tighter. "Didn't we get together the day after you won the Jhoto Grand festival?"

"Yeah…at least, I think we did," May said slowly. Drew nodded, looking out over the horizon at the moon's reflection in the ocean. His brow was furrowed, and it didn't take a genius to figure out he was debating over something.

"You okay?" May asked gently, squeezing his waist. Drew snapped his attention back to his girlfriend, and sheepishly smiled.

"Oh…I was just thinking," he said casually, trying to act cool. May rolled her eyes

"About…?"

He sighed, kicking a stone with his foot into the dark waters. "It's just…do you ever miss coordinating?"

May blinked, surprised at the direction their conversation had taken. "Um…yeah," she said slowly, thinking of how she had left all of her Pokémon in Brock's hands at the Pewter gym. "Yeah, sometimes I do…I still visit my Pokémon every now and then though."

Drew nodded; he went back to thinking. May sighed.

"Drew, if you're trying to tell me something, then just say it."

He laughed, shaking his head. "What are we up to May?"

May gave him a confused look. "What do you mean?"

He squeezed her shoulder. "It's just…these past few years, we've been all over the place. We've been jumping from job to job…" He sighed, looking in her eyes, and then back out towards the sea. Then, suddenly, a dancing light came to his eyes. He turned back to May in excitement. "May…May, what if we go back to competing?"

May let the words sink into her head…they sounded a bit foreign, as if she couldn't really grasp the sense of what Drew was saying. "You mean…we go back to coordinating?"

Drew laughed, turning in front of his girlfriend and taking her hands in his. "Well…yeah. We've never traveled _together _before…personally, I think it would be a good experience."

May nodded slowly, letting Drew's suggestion sink in. "Travel together…"

His face fell, misinterpreting May's expression. "Look, we don't have to."

She snapped her face back to Drew's, moving her hands onto his neck. She gave him a smile. "To be honest…oh, why not?"

"You serious?" Drew asked skeptically. May laughed.

"Yes! Let's go—let's start competing again! Why the hell can't we?"

Drew snaked his hands around her waist, pulling her closer to him. "I love you," he said softly, as he closed his lips around hers….

"Got our room key."

May snapped back to reality, letting the images from her flashback escape her mind. Drew was standing before her, with a hotel room key dangling from his index finger. He handed May's key to her, and kept one for himself. May took a brief moment to reorient herself; she was at the Jubilife city Pokémon center, preparing for her first Pokémon contest in nearly three years. She mentally smacked herself; _stay in reality May._

She managed a smile. "You go. I need to videophone Dawn," she said quickly. Drew nodded without hesitation; he knew of Dawn's messed up love triangle. The last time May had seen Dawn was two weeks ago; she hadn't spoken to her since, and though she didn't want to intrude, she _needed _to videophone her friend. They couldn't lose touch like they had last time…never again.

Dawn logged onto her videophone account without hesitation. May managed a smile as she faced her friend.

"Hey," she said gently, trying to sound concerned. "How are you?"

Dawn gave May a bitter smile; she looked bedridden. "May…I don't want to dampen your day…"

"Forget about my day," May said firmly, giving her friend a confident smile. "I'm here to listen Dawn. I always will be."

Dawn sighed, running her hand through her mess of a blue hair. "If you say so…" she muttered, looking down for a brief moment. She leaned down away from the screen, and came back up with a brown hand bag. She rummaged through the bag for a moment, muttering "damn Barry," under her breath a few times. She stopped, letting her fingers close around the object she was looking for. She sighed, looking back to May.

"No judgment?" she pleaded, her eyes very dull. May nodded sincerely.

"No judgment."

Dawn sighed, and pulled out a slender, white, plastic stick. She looked at the pregnancy test first.

"Positive," she muttered. She showed May the pregnancy test; it didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out what the plus sign meant. May didn't say anything for a few minutes, not knowing if her friend would break down or not. She looked fairly weak.

"I'm sorry," she said softly. Dawn laughed, a tear in the corner of her eye.

"I have to tell him," she whispered. May nodded, though she didn't know who she was talking about; Kenny or Barry.

"Dawn…you should tell both of them."

She slammed the pregnancy test onto the counter, turning to the computer monitor furiously. "Why! Why does _Barry _have to know!" She laughed hysterically, a tear streaming down her face. "I would definitely be able to get away with telling everyone it's Kenny's…no one would ever know."

"C'mon Dawn, you know that would be wrong," May said gently. Dawn shook her head sadly.

"May…you have _no _idea how hard everything's been for me…"

May sighed; as much as she didn't want to say what she was about to, she knew that she had to at least mention it. "Well…abortion is an option."

Dawn frantically shook her head. "No," she said quickly, dropping the pregnancy test back into her handbag. "May, getting rid of the _baby _wouldn't get rid of the guilt. Besides…I don't have the money."

In the background, May could hear a door being opened. She heard Dawn's name being called. Dawn whirled back to May, a pleading look on her face.

"That would be Kenny," she said softly. May gave her friend a small smile.

"I'll call you later," she said, quickly logging off. May slowly got up, and began walking to her room. She glanced at her key; room 214. She trudged down the hallway, thinking of Dawn. _Poor girl, _May thought sadly. She knew she probably wouldn't ever be able to understand the pain she was currently being put through. May couldn't imagine herself having to face Drew like Dawn would eventually have to face Kenny. Still, she couldn't imagine lying to Drew about the baby's parentage…she didn't know how Dawn would cope with either of those choices…

May stopped in her tracks as she walked into her room; before her was a half-naked Drew.

May stared at him for a stunned moment; he was changing out of his clothes that he had traveled with. He had stripped down to his boxers, and was already reaching for a fresh pair of jeans. Color ran to May's face as she looked him over; well, at least she would finally be able to tell Dawn that Drew _did _have nice abs.

Drew turned to May, suddenly seeing her. He did a bit of a double take as he scrambled for his jeans and shirt.

"Oh gosh…"

"I'm sorry!" May said quickly with a nervous laugh, already backing out of the room.

"Oh, no…I just assumed you would take longer on videophone," he said quickly.

"Oh, no…I should have knocked," May exclaimed. She stopped backing out the room, seeing that Drew was fully changed. The lust of the moment had ended. Still, she couldn't help but remember the hungry sensation she had recently felt…

"Dinner?" he asked quickly, jabbing his thumb in the direction of the restaurant.

May nodded, grabbing clutching onto her bag. "Sounds great."

_Great, _May thought quietly to herself as Drew walked over to her, placing his arm around her shoulders. _Only my first contest here and I'm already dealing with sexual tension…_

May had a feeling that the journey ahead of them would be very long.

A/N: I know, I know…another let down. Remember, pacing is my thing. They aren't going to go and have whirlwind sex just because there's a bit of tension…still, it's going to be an issue

First order of business: For those of you that haven't already, **check out my new story Frostbite**! To give you fair warning, it's M rated, so for those of you that don't like perverted love triangles I suggest you don't read it.

Second order of business: The school year is coming to a close, and since I'm almost finished with writing Frostbite**, I need you guys to vote on what my next story should be about**. Be sure to check out my profile and cast your vote!

Third order of business: Since I've realized I've been updating very sporadically, and since this story has been slow lately, **I'm going to back to updating once a week** :D

Your good dead task for today: Goddammit, take a minute to stop and help someone if they're in a tight spot. Hold the door for someone in school tomorrow, and the next time someone's books explode, don't just walk right past them. Take thirty seconds of your life to make someone's day

--Vikki


	18. Innocence

A/N: Hello there my lovelies! Now, when we last left off, the sexual tension was starting eat at our beloved May and Drew. Hm, that surely ensures drama, no? So, enjoy chapter eighteen.

-Vikki

Innocence

It was just like May to end up at the wrong place at the wrong time.

Drew was in the shower, and May was just sitting around their hotel room. She sighed, hearing the running water from where she was. She couldn't help but blush, thinking of the fact that her boyfriend was naked in the shower and that she was maybe fifteen feet away. She shook those thoughts out of her head, reminding herself that she was just a hormone driven twenty-one year old. She shook her head, not wanting to think on when she had walked in on Drew changing the day before. Still, ever since then…something had changed. Instead of her heart simply fluttering when he would kiss her, she would have _wars_ in her mind whether to fling herself onto him or not. When they had gone to bed that very same night, it took much more willpower than she had expected it to not strip down to her undergarments and climb into Drew's bed. It didn't help that she dreamt of him in that way, either.

She shifted her weight, thinking of how her conversation with Dawn had went when she had seen her in person two weeks ago.

_You've been together for three years, and you have yet to even _talk_ about sleeping together?_

She sighed; her relationship with Drew had gone to the extreme, though the exact opposite that many would expect. That much she was willing to admit.

_What kind of twenty-one year olds _are_ you?_

She knew what had been saying was nothing but the truth; _I'm twenty-one years old. I've been in a relationship with Drew for over three years. Guess what? I'm still a virgin._

She grumbled in frustration; Dawn had a point, and May knew it. She wasn't living in the nineteenth century anymore, and it was more than acceptable to sleep with your boyfriend…given the circumstances. Of course, May knew her circumstances; it was perfectly legal for her to sleep with Drew since she was over the age of eighteen. It wasn't like it would be a one-night stand…they'd been together for over three years.

_Never?_

May shook her head, trying to shake the fantasies out of her head. She couldn't think that way; so she hadn't had sex with Drew yet, big deal. It wasn't like she _needed _to sleep with him. She'd known him for nearly eleven years, and they'd been dating for three; if she'd gone that long without doing anything with him, surely she could go a little longer. She didn't even know if she would be able to after seeing the pain that Dawn was being put through; sure, so her circumstances weren't quite like Dawn's…but still.

_… I would personally _kill _to be in a relationship with someone that good looking._

_ "_Argh!" May yelled, throwing herself onto her bed. She bit her lip, trying not to admit what she had been denying for so long. Still, she knew she was in a battle she wouldn't be able to win; it had been eating away from her since she'd encountered Dawn, and she was officially more than ready to surrender.

Her desires had gotten the best of her; she wanted to have sex with Drew.

No, correction; she _really _wanted to have sex with Drew.

"Drew!" she yelled, listening for his response. She didn't hear any commotion coming from the shower. She sighed impatiently, yelling again. "Drew!" Still, over the running water, he couldn't hear. Now quite annoyed with herself, May walked over to the bathroom door and gave a series of loud, earsplitting raps on the wooden frame. "DREW!"

She heard the water turn off, and she heard Drew mumble something about impatience. Before he could open the door, May burst in, finding herself face to face with her boyfriend. He'd had enough time to throw on a towel, but that was it. She looked into his eyes, and she felt her heart burst. She turned a deep shade of crimson, already asking herself what mess she had managed to get into.

"Um…sorry," she said sheepishly, jabbing her thumb behind her shoulder. "I…was just—"

"May," Drew said calmly, securing his towel around his waist nonchalantly. "The way I see it, we have two options." He turned to face her. "Either you turn around, close the door behind you, and act like nothing happened…or I take the towel off."

May sighed, realizing what he was saying.

"We've been avoiding this for a long time," he said sincerely, walking over to his girlfriend. May exhaled, motioning for him to follow her. They sat down on her bed awkwardly, not really knowing where to start.

"We've been together for three years," she said slowly, spelling every syllable out carefully. "We're twenty one, and we're both still virgins."

Drew nodded, taking in what she was saying. "What are we going to do about it?"

May sighed, not quite knowing what to say. Just a few minutes before, she felt like she was about to explode if she couldn't have Drew as intimately as possible. Now…May wasn't entirely sure. It wasn't that he was any less attractive; her mind jumped to Dawn multiple times, and she wound up thinking of what she had told her. She shook her head, seeing how torn she was.

"Drew, did I tell you what Dawn and I talked about yesterday?" she began. He looked at May, not knowing what she was getting at.

"No, you didn't," he said slowly, as if he was prying for an answer. May managed a weak smile.

"She got herself into a mess," she started. "She's pregnant with a baby that isn't her boyfriend's."

Drew let what May said register, wondering how to respond. "So…was she having an affair, or…?"

"She was drunk at a party," May said flatly. "The drinks were spiked and she didn't realize how drunk she was until she woke up." She put her hand on Drew's. "All it took was one night…and look at her now."

Drew stayed silent for a second, taking in what May was saying. "If you don't want to do anything…"

"Of course I do!" May exclaimed, giving Drew a playful slap on the shoulder. "I just…I _want _to…"

Drew gave May a bit of a smile, bringing her face to his. "That makes two of us."

May nodded, biting her lip. "I don't think I'm ready though."

Drew gave her a nod and a smile. "We can wait however long we have to."

May shook her head quickly with a brief smile. "I don't want to wait too long Drew. I trust you with all my heart; it's not you, it's truly me."

Drew smiled. "I don't blame you if you don't trust me."

"But I _do_," she said, bringing her hand to his face. Drew gulped back a pit in his throat.

"Even after what happened with Sarah?"

May cringed, hearing the deranged slut's name. If there was one person whose name alone would make May want to break a window, it would be Sarah. She had only met the girl once, and even when she'd known her, she hadn't made a good impression.

"That was a while ago," she said flatly. "And yes, I trust you even after that."

Drew gulped back, trying not to appear completely weak. "That means a lot to me May…it really does." He pressed his lips against hers gently, not inviting any room for an open mouth kiss. May closed her eyes, and couldn't help but a feel an edge of sadness behind Drew's mouth. In a way, May knew exactly what Drew was saying; he wouldn't break May's trust or hurt her, ever again. Even though May got the meaning behind his actions, she couldn't help but get a different reading. She felt…innocent. She felt sweet and pure, despite the fact that the only thing Drew was wearing was a towel. And, if anything, she knew one thing for certain.

_I trust Drew. I just don't want anything to change too fast too soon._

May slowly broke their lips apart, resting her head against Drew's chest. He stroked her back reassuringly.

"So we wait?"

May nodded, feeling her throat thicken. "Not for much longer…but we wait."

A/N:

First order of business:

**Go to my profile, and vote on my next story! So far, I have a few ideas floating around, but nothing definite yet.**

Second order of business:

**Check out my story, **_**Frostbite! **_**I'm not usually one to beg for reviews, but… :D**

Third order of business:

**Go visit freerice(dot)com and answer questions to give rice to starving people; oh, and tell a friend too :D**

Fourth order of business:

**I'm almost finished with this story, and I am going to be updating more and more frequently from now on; Chapter twenty-three is the final chapter.**

Blessings,

Vikki


	19. Love

A/N: This chapter was just lots of fun for me to write…you'll see why

-Vikki

Love

And just when they thought the media couldn't get any more annoying…

"The winner of this Sinnoh Grand Festival is Drew!"

May stared across the field, her eyes bug-wide. She looked past the still airborne dust, right into the eyes of her boyfriend. A mixture of shock and happiness was written across his face. Once he had come to his senses, a wide smile spread across his face. May blushed, clapping for Drew. Despite the fact that Drew had beaten her in the Sinnoh Grand Festival by a slim margin, she somehow felt no resentment towards her rival. He made his way across the battlefield, extending his arm for May to shake.

Only, she leaned forward and kissed him.

Drew was partially taken aback, but once May pulled back he laughed under his breath and his put arm around her waist. He turned to the audience and with a grin, he waved to the stands. A roar came from the crowd, and May couldn't help but blush.

"Huh," Drew said casually, "that's weird. They're clapping more for you than they did for Sarah…"

May's face went from pink to crimson red.

The award's ceremony went very quickly. Despite the thick crowd of reporters trying to wheedle their way towards Drew, he managed to accept his ribbon cup with minimal damage. Of course, that didn't stop the Paparazzi from crowding him afterward.

"Is it true that you trained your flygon for eight hours per day?"

"Two Grand Festivals; how does that feel?"

"Are you picking up a new chick with every win Drew?"

"May, woman across Sinnoh would like to know; what's it like dating _Drew?"_

Drew managed to dodge away from many of the obnoxious reporters; May had a bit more difficulty, so she clung onto Drew's arm the entire time they made their way from the arena back to the Pokémon center. They managed to lose a good deal of the reporters back by one of the crossing signs, yet they found themselves sprinting the last hundred yards to their rooms. They burst through the door laughing, not stopping to thank Nurse Joy for congratulating Drew. May fumbled for the room key, and slammed the door open once she had managed to unlock it. Drew threw his ribbon cup on his bed, shutting the door behind him and wrapping his arms around May's waist. May forced herself against him, fitting her curves into the outline of his body.

Drew hungrily pressed his mouth against May's, a sense of longing and desire coming from behind his kiss. May responded with equal force, letting her imagination run wild for the first time since ten months ago, when she had walked in on Drew in the shower. May let her mouth completely open up, and pressed herself against Drew even more, backing them into the nearby wall. The two slid down and May wrapped her legs around Drew's waist, cupping Drew's face with her hands. May soon became filled with lust, trying to force herself against Drew. _Please…let it go further…_

"May," Drew finally gasped, breaking the kiss for air. May brought her mouth back to his before he could say anymore. Drew managed to break the kiss again. "May," he said, trying to restrain her a bit.

"I'm ready," she confidently, fighting her way to kiss Drew again. "Drew, we don't have to stop ourselves, I'm ready," she said again, bringing her mouth back to his. She brought her hands to one of the buttons on his shirt, trying to undo it. Drew gently took her hand away from his shirt, shaking his head slowly. He broke the kiss yet again, and was a bit more forceful in keeping May back.

"May," he said, slowly pushing her back. May took a moment to get herself reoriented.

"Drew…c'mon, let's just _do it."_

"May," he said, yet again. He cupped May's face in his hands, slowly getting the two of them to stand up again. May looked into Drew's green irises, her eyes filled with doubt. "I love you," he said, giving May a quick peck on the lips. "You know I do…"

"What!" May exclaimed, exasperated. "Did I miss my chance?"

"No!" Drew shouted reassuringly, shaking his head. "No…May, listen, it's not that…"

"Then why won't you sleep with me?" she demanded, turning her head away from Drew's. Drew ran his hand through his hair, trying to figure out what to say to his girlfriend. He took her hand, and led them over to his bed. As they sat down, Drew racked his mind for the right words to say.

"We've been together for a while," he began.

"We love each other," May said, putting her hand on Drew's shoulder. Drew smiled.

"Yeah…we do." He gulped, suddenly realizing he had his chance. "May…We're only twenty-two…"

May laughed. "Plenty of people lose their virginity when they're sixteen, and you're worried about _us _being too young?"

Drew shook his head, laughing nervously. "No…May, that's not what I'm getting at."

May looked at her boyfriend, confused. "Well…then what are you trying to say?"

Drew took a deep breath. "May…I want to have sex, I really do," he said defeatedly. "It's just…who knows where we'll be in another five, ten, fifteen years…"

"Can I just get a straight answer Drew?" May said impatiently.

"It's just…you're one of my first girlfriends," Drew said slowly, "And I really haven't gotten the chance to see other people."

May's heart stopped. "Wait…so you're afraid to sleep with me incase we break up?"

Drew nodded, slowly. "That's exactly what I'm saying."

May stood up, not able to believe what was coming from her boyfriend's mouth. "Who are you saving yourself for, Drew? Do you want a commitment, because believe me, I gave you one the second we first kissed!"

Drew sighed, nodding slowly. "Yes…yes, I want a commitment May. And yes, I am saving myself."

May looked at Drew in shock, her eyes clouded with tears. Though she'd worried about this day, she was hoping she'd be able to avoid it. "You're breaking up with me."

Drew sighed. "May…I'm saving myself for my wife."

May looked at him confused. "What are you…" May's voice trailed off, watching as Drew slipped off of the bed before her onto one knee. She brought her hands to her face and covered her mouth. _He's on one knee, he's on one knee…_May shook her head, knowing exactly what was going on. Yet, she was afraid that the entire thing was dream…that she would wake up and it would all disappear. It all felt so surreal.

"I love you May," Drew said slowly, his voice breaking. He reached into his jacket pocket, and pulled out a velvet box. "And…I honestly don't want us to _ever _break up." He laughed and gulped, opening the box.

Inside was an engagement ring.

"I can't imagine waking up in ten, twenty, or even thirty years without you by my side," he continued. "I love you, and I want you to be with me forever." He slowly looked up at May, his eyes glassy. "Will you marry me?"

Drew sounded extremely tender with his words, and they were phrased carefully. And, at that moment, May's heart just burst. She let the tears stream down her face freely, and she nodded vigorously.

"Yes…yes, hell yes!" She shouted, taking her boyfriend off the ground and ramming herself into him. She laughed mindlessly, yet she honestly didn't care. She cupped Drew's face as he leaned in and kissed her, a smile of his own prominent on his face. One part of May told her to get a hold of herself, yet she completely ignored her more sensible side. By god, she was in love; she didn't care about anything else. The moment Drew slipped the ring on May's left hand, everything felt just _right; _she felt as if everything she had lived for—coordinating, eating, breathing—had finally been fulfilled in just a fraction of a second. At that moment, she felt unexplainably whole and happy, and nothing in the world could stop her.

The fact that the diamond was cut in the shape of a rose helped too.

A/N: Ahhh…love.

I could have ended the story right there, but I decided not to. After all, there's still some other subjects I thought I might have needed to touch base on; for instance, we can't just leave Dawn the way she is, now can we! And also, what about the wedding and May losing her virginity? Hm…so, this story will be another four chapters.

Now, I know my updating has been sporadic recently. *cough* Reviews are very motivating *cough.*

Also, be sure to **vote on my profile's poll.**

-Vikki


	20. Toast

5

A/N: Okay, I'm going to get one thing straight; I tried writing a wedding chapter. Multiple times, actually. The words never sounded right though, and after a few tries, I decided that instead of a wedding, a bachelorette party would be far more interesting and contribute more to the plot. So, here you are :D

-Vikki

Toast

_Why _did May decide to leave _Dawn _in charge of the bachelorette party again?

All it had taken was one day out, just a short week or so before her wedding with Drew. It had been nearly seven months since he had proposed, and according to Dawn, "What better time to have a bachelorette party than your twenty-third birthday?" So, Dawn had decided to plan May's entire day out; while the bride-to-be took her brother sight-seeing around Lilycove city, Dawn had gotten May's apartment set up.

Damn Dawn.

"I thought only you, me, and Zoe were spending the evening together," May said the second she saw the _five _placemats and party hats set up at the table. Dawn rolled her eyes at her friend.

"May, when will you finally get a clue that you can't trust me?" she said with a smirk, gesturing towards the names on the cups. May walked over, looking to see who the two mystery guests were. Her heart stopped as she read the name she hoped she wouldn't have to face.

_"Misty?"_

"Yeah," Dawn said casually, "do you have a problem with that?"

May rolled her eyes, dropping the cup back to the table. "_I _don't, but I'm not so sure about Misty."

"What do you mean?"

May sighed. "I just…I don't think she likes me that much."

Dawn smirked. "Who cares, exactly?"

May threw her hands up in the air. "I do!" Dawn laughed and patted May on the shoulder.

"Oh, cheer up May! She's Ash's _girlfriend; _she has to be nice to you!" Dawn turned away from Dawn, putting Misty's cup back into its place. "Plus, I don't think that one evening is going to kill her anyway."

May sighed, but decided to let the subject drop. She turned over another cup, seeing Zoey's name on it, which didn't come to be a surprise. She stopped and saw a glass labeled "Solidad."

She smiled, shoving the pink glass in Dawn's face. "Solidad?"

Dawn turned back to May, and suddenly took the cup away from her. "Aw, dammit, that was supposed to be a surprise!"

May gave her a knowing grin. "What was supposed to be a surprise?"

Dawn let out a sigh of relief. "Thank you," she said quietly, grabbing a roll of pink streamers from May's coffee table. She yanked a chair out from under the dining table, using it as a latter to hang up streamers around the room. She grabbed the box of thumbtacks off of the lamp stand. May thought for a second; something had been bugging her since the last time she had seen Dawn. _If _she had indeed been pregnant as she thought she was, than she would have had a basketball stomach; or, well, at least a premature baby.

"Have you talked to Barry recently?" May asked slowly, hoping Dawn could pick up the hint. Dawn sighed, dropping the streamer and turning back to face May. There was a sad smile on her face.

"You want to know, huh?"

May thought that over for a moment. "I'm worried, Dawn," she said quietly. Dawn gave her a smile.

"Well, you _are _my friend," she started, going back to the streamers, talking as she worked. "So, at about five weeks, I tell Kenny that I'm pregnant with _his _baby," she continued, turning back to May before she could interject. "And, yes, I _know _that was wrong for me to do May." She turned back to the streamers then. "But it doesn't matter…"

"So," May asked, decided to get straight to the point, "are you a mother or…?"

"No, I'm not a mom," Dawn said casually. "I didn't get an abortion either."

May looked at Dawn puzzled. "Then how…" suddenly, she realized exactly what she was saying. "Oh, Dawn…I'm so sorry! I had no—"

"May, save it," Dawn said nonchalantly. She turned back to her friend and gave her a weak smile. "I shouldn't have said anything. I don't want to ruin your night…"

May sighed. "I'm sorry," she said, letting the topic drop. An awkward silence hung in the air for a moment. May tried to somehow understand the pain Dawn must have gone through; to plan to have a baby and then to miscarry must have been very difficult…

"So, setting aside the tragedies," Dawn said with a joking tone, back to her usual self, "you excited to get married?"

May laughed, smiling. "What do _you _think? Of course I am! Dawn," May began, trying to phrase everything lightly, "I'm really in love." May laughed, hearing herself say it. "By god am I in love…"

The two girls then heard a knock coming from the door. The both turned, and Dawn grabbed May's shoulder before she could go get the door. "It's open!" Dawn called. Zoey walked in, a bright smile on her face and a gift under her shoulder.

"There she is!" she said brightly, walking over to May. May laughed, hugging her old friend.

"It's great to see you, Zoey," she said, giving her a squeeze. Zoey pulled back and smiled.

"Back at you. Congrats," she said, hanging May the present. May thanked her and set it on the coffee table. As Zoey began to strike up a conversation with Dawn, there was another knock at the door. May heard talking coming from outside the door, and smiled to herself, breathing a sigh of relief that Misty and Solidad had supposedly hit it off well…which, in the long run, would save May pressure. She opened the door and—no surprise—found herself face to face with Solidad and Ash's girlfriend. Solidad smiled, giving May a hug.

"Congratulations May!" she exclaimed, giving her a warm embrace. May blushed.

"Thanks for coming out here Solidad."

Solidad snorted and laughed. "Oh, it wasn't a problem."

May smiled and turned to Misty, who was smiling timidly. The two girls hugged awkwardly.

"Congratulations," she said, handing May her gift.

"Thanks." May motioned for Misty to step in, and turned back to see Dawn and Zoey already introducing themselves to Solidad. May smiled.

"Guys, this is Dawn," May said, pointing to Dawn, "Zoey," she continued, introducing each of her friends, "Misty, and Solidad."

"Solidad?" Zoey said with a smirk. "As in, two time Grand Festival winner Solidad?"

Solidad grinned. "I'm not the only one," she said ominously. May could feel every pair of eyes in the room on her. She blushed, seeing Misty and Solidad begin to strike up a conversation. The two seemed to hit it off well, being older than everyone else; Solidad was easily eight years older than Dawn, nearly at the age of thirty, and Misty was around twenty-six. Zoey was only a year younger than May, making Dawn the youngest at twenty, almost twenty-one. Still, everyone seemed to get along fine, despite the age gaps.

"So, you're the Cerulean gym leader?" Zoey asked casually, turning to Misty. She sheepishly nodded.

"Well…my sisters help out a lot, but yeah, I am."

Zoey smiled, "you train water type Pokémon, right?"

Misty nodded, "yeah, I do. Did May tell you that?"

"No, actually, Ash did," Zoey said with a small, knowing smile. May took this as her cue to join in on the conversation.

"Speaking of Ash, how is he?" May asked Misty. Misty blushed a little, but shook it off easily.

"You know him…never seems to be able to get settled," she said with a slightly bittersweet shake of the head. She laughed. "But hey, what are you going to do?"

May thought that over for a moment. "Well…Drew and I went traveling together for a year once we'd gotten together," May said casually. Misty turned to her, a skeptical look on her face.

"Did that work out?" she asked timidly.

May nodded. "It was fun for the both of us…well, setting aside the sexual tension."

All side conversations around May stopped. Solidad, Zoey, and Dawn had turned their eyes on May skeptically, wondering what she had said. There was a sense of knowledge in Dawn's eyes, yet everyone else seemed shocked.

"What?" May demanded, laughing nervously.

Solidad gave a weak smile. "May, I don't want to get explicit…but I don't see how sexual tension is a problem at that point in a relationship."

"Exactly," Zoey continued, trying to figure out exactly what May was saying.  
"That is…only if he sucked in the bedroom…" Zoey's voice trailed off, suddenly realizing exactly what May was saying. Of course, Dawn was one step ahead of everyone else.

"You're _still _a virgin?" Dawn exclaimed. Misty's mouth went into the "o" shape of surprise, and Solidad just shook her head. Zoey nodded slowly, as if what Dawn had mentioned had confirmed everything.

May sighed and nodded slowly. "Yeah. I am."

Misty suddenly shook her head. "May, I honestly don't see how that's possible."

May laughed. "Well…I guess it is. I mean, sure," she continued awkwardly, "we had a few close calls…but never."

Dawn laughed. "Again, I feel like a slut." She turned and nudged Zoey. "See, here we have a girl who'd been dating her boyfriend for four years and is at the age of twenty-two, almost twenty-three literally a week before her wedding…and I've already been pregnant!"

Zoey smiled. "To be honest, I gave up when I was eighteen," she said sheepishly, as if she was finally admitting something that she was ashamed of.

Dawn laughed. "Better than me; I was sixteen."

"Really?" Misty asked, interested. Dawn nodded, laughing.

"The rumors about me being a slut are completely true. But hey—I only sleep with boys I know, so that _must _count for something."

Misty gave a small smile. "Ash held off for so long…I have to admit, he's gotten better with girls, but that doesn't mean he's not clueless."

Dawn laughed, "old habits die hard, I guess."

Solidad rolled her eyes. "To think…the only virgin in this room just so happens to be the only person that's getting married."

May smiled, and Solidad gave her a knowing grin. Zoey and Solidad had a few side conversations, but for the most part everyone was talking to each other. Dawn and Misty had hit it off surprisingly well, considering the five and a half year age difference. They did, after all, have plenty of Ash stories to share.

"So, May," Solidad, said, turning back to her, "Do you know if Drew…?"

"Oh, he and Sarah never did anything," May responded quickly. She cringed at saying her name. "She was just a female heartbreaker, that's all."

"You mean Sarah?" Zoey asked, turning away from her conversation with Dawn and Misty.

May nodded. "Yeah. She's like that at every Grand Festival; Drew was just the best looking guy around, and she thought it would be a fun challenge."

Zoey snorted, muttering the word "slut" under her breath. Misty eyed May skeptically.

"Are you sure they never did anything?" she asked gently. May nodded.

"They almost did, but no. That's the reason why Drew and I are in Lilycove City; Sarah used to live here, and she said she wanted Drew to get settled closer to her. She'd said that once they'd gotten settled, they could be intimate…what was really going on though was that she just wanted Drew stuck on the other side of the world from her and the next guy she was about to pursue. She left him only a few days after he'd gotten his apartment."

Solidad shook her head. "He can be so thick sometimes…"

"But hey," Dawn interjected, passing around the champagne classes and grabbing a bottle from the counter, "he isn't _that _thick. After all, he did propose to May."

Zoey smiled, pouring herself a glass and passing the bottle to Solidad. "True. He deserves credit for that."

Solidad gave Misty the bottle, who then passed it to May. "A toast then," Solidad declared, raising her glass. "To May and Drew."

"To May and Drew," everyone said simultaneously, raising their glasses and then downing it. Halfway through her sip though, May turned to Dawn, suddenly realizing something.

"Wait…Dawn, you're only twenty."

She just winked.

A/N: Ahh…I like this chapter :D It was entertaining for me to write, seeing that we finally get the dirt on the other girls' love lives. To give you guys fair warning though, I don't just leave Dawn hanging like that after you find out about her miscarriage. You have three more chapters coming your way, so stay tuned.

Blessings,

Vikki


	21. Forever

A/N: Well…this is the big moment. The next chapter after this will be the second to last…so enjoy.

-Vikki

Forever

Rice.

Billions of grains of rice were flying through the air, attempting to hit May and Drew. For the most part, the rice had managed to find its way to them. They didn't mind of course; it was all part of tradition. Throwing rice at the newly wed meant fertility or something…right? The two adults laughed, trying to duck their way into the limousine. Over the blaring music, they could hear the chorus of 'farewells' coming from their friends and family. At one point, it even became emotional; Caroline, May's mother, had actually been brought to tears.

Drew and May were having a laughing fit as they slammed the limo doors behind them, and as the driver sped off. May brought her head to Drew's lap, and he stroked her hair.

"We're married," she sighed, as if what she was saying was absolutely surreal. She laughed. "I'm…married." She turned to Drew, and gave him a smile. "I'm actually _married._"

Drew stroked her hairline with his thumb, and brought his lips to hers. He pulled back quickly, not wanting to have his face make-out session as a married man in the back of a limo. He finally paid attention to the limo driver, who was waiting directions.

"Slateport City," he told him, keeping his arm around May's shoulder. The driver gave them a nod and drove off.

The ride to the port—or, in other words, May's and Drew's first hour together as a married couple—would have made any other bystander lovesick. May would often look into Drew's eyes and smile, and then he would laugh and kiss her. She would then lean against him, and he would stroke her, which would cause her to look into his eyes and smile, and then he would laugh and…well, you get the point. Drew always had his hands on May; he would stroke her left hand, where the wedding band and engagement ring were. She would then enclose her hand around his, and place their hands against her heart. For some reason, there was a _lot _of giggling and laughing coming from the two of them. Other times, May would just stare into the depths of Drew's green eyes, wandering around them. He, in the meantime, would look into the depths of her bottomless brown eyes; the only thing that would break the connection was when he would lean in and kiss her.

"Here you are," the driver said, finally pulling over. May unrolled the window; she kept one hand in Drew's, and she stared at the hotel they would spend the night at in awe. From the outside, it was painted a dazzling shade of gold, and the ornamentations along the molds was something that would take anyone's breath away.

"This is the big surprise?" May whispered. Drew shook his head.

"We're just spending the night here," he said roughly, bringing May's face back to his. He smiled. "We leave for our honeymoon tomorrow."

May gave him another smile, and kissed him yet again. She pulled back quickly though, anxious to get inside of the hotel.

"Enjoy your honeymoon," the driver said as the two got out of the limo. He gave them a grin and a wave, and drove off. Drew took May's hand, and turned back to her. She took his other hand, her eyes glassy.

"Ready to spend our first night together as a married couple?" he asked, sounding a bit nervous. May nodded, biting her lip to keep herself from doing anything stupid. She held onto Drew's arm as the two walked into the hotel, nearing the counter. Drew approached the receptionist, speaking very formally.

"Reservations under Drew," he said softly. She nodded, and opened one of the drawers behind the desk, looking through them. She found an envelope and took out the two room keys, handing them to him.

"Room 124," she said politely, and then turned her attentions towards May. "Best wishes."

The two thanked her, and backed away from the desk, not able to contain themselves. Once they were out of the lobby, Drew picked May up and held her in his arms. The two laughed mindlessly, and walked down the hallway as fast as they could without waking up the other couples in the hotel. The stopped at room 124 and May whipped out her room key, sliding it in and kicking the door wide open. The inside of their room wasn't very large, but it was bigger than your average room. It was beautifully decorated, and, though she was expecting it…there was only one bed in the center of the room.

Drew closed the door behind them, bringing his lips to hers and kissing her as much as he could. He tenderly brought his hands to her face, cupping them. May could taste his warm, sweet breath better now than ever…he gently laid her down onto the bed, and continued to kiss her. She brought herself up against him, just letting everything out in the past few months. After all, all rules were suspended now that they were married; they could get as close as they wanted.

"I love you," she gasped, trying to get a hold of her emotions. She kept her arms around his neck and her forehead against his. She laughed, not able to believe where she was at the moment. "I love you so much…" she smiled, and looked into his eyes. "I can't wait to wake up next to you tomorrow morning," she whispered.

Drew cleared his throat, as if he was about to say was a very hard thing for him. "May…you mean everything to me. This…moment means everything to me." He laughed. "I wouldn't share it with anyone else…never in a thousand years."

May brought his lips back to hers once again, and the two adults kissed furiously. There was one part of May—her reflex action, she guessed—that told her to stop before things went too far. Then again, she _couldn't _go too far anymore. She'd given Drew the ultimate commitment; marriage. The two of them could do whatever the hell they wanted now; if they wanted, they could sleep together every night for the rest of their lives. They were _married, _after all.

Drew pulled back for a brief moment, and stroked May's hairline. She looked into his eyes, and was finally able to bring herself to say what she wanted to be able to say for the past thirteen years.

_He's all mine; mine and only mine._

"May—"

"I want you," she whispered, interrupting him. She looked into his eyes. "I want you; now and forever."

Drew smiled. "May, you can have me; now and forever." He ran his hands through her hair, and down her neck to her back, where the wedding dress was tied together.

"I love you," he said, as he began undoing the knots on the dress.

_It's happening, May._

She gulped, feeling his cool hands on her bare back. She brought her own hands and removed his tuxedo jacket, and began working at the buttons.

"I love you Drew…" she said quietly, knowing exactly what was about to happen…she couldn't say if she was more nervous or excited; either way, she was exhilarated. She'd waited nearly six years, since she was seventeen, to be with Drew in the way she was about to be. And, now, here she was; on her wedding night. It was all laid out in from of her…

"I love you," she said again, as she would for the rest of the night.

A/N: Yes, I know I had to cut it off; you know, before it got to an M rating. I had to keep it T, and I realized I didn't think I'd be able to write well if I went any further anyway.

So, there you have it. There are still two chapters after this, so be sure to stay tuned. Also, for those of you that haven't already, check out my story _Frostbite._

So, until the next chapter…actually be _nice _to your sibling for a change. Because, deep down, you really _do _love each other.

-Vikki


	22. Pride

A/N: The second to last chapter! Ack! Well…I thought we'd end the story by seeing Dawn, just one last time…

-Vikki

Pride

Once was coincidence.

Twice was very strange.

And three times meant that the world must have been playing a very mean joke on Drew.

All memory of Sarah had been wiped away from him earlier that morning. Drew had been married for nearly a year; it was just past May's twenty-fourth birthday. They'd gotten fairly sick of living in Lilycove City, especially since the reason they were there was because of Sarah. So, while May went to visit her parents and brother in Petalburg City, Drew had decided to go look at apartments in none other than Mt. Silver in the Jhoto region. He had to admit that him and May had gotten very fond of that region; while Hoenn would be their home, everything for the two of them had begun in Jhoto, and Drew couldn't forget that.

"How's everything going there?" May asked over videophone. Drew was at the Mt. Silver Pokémon center, and had to stick to his promise of calling May every day.

"I think I found something," he said with a smile. "It's a condo…it overlooks the Mt. Silver lake though. It's also got a few bedrooms…"

May smiled. "That's enough reason for me."

"How's everything out in Petalburg city?"

"Max got a girlfriend," May said, blushing. "So, everything is better than fine over here."

Drew nodded. "I'll be there in a few days. I better get going though."

"Sure then." She blew him a kiss, "I love you."

Drew smiled. "Love you too; I'll be home real soon."

May gave him one last grin just before logging off. "Bye."

Drew sat at the desk for a moment, thinking of May. They were celebrating their first year anniversary very soon, and so far, there had yet to be an argument.

"Okay, now this is just _weird_."

Drew turned around, able to recognize the voice. Behind him stood none other than twenty-two year old Dawn herself. Drew rolled his eyes, going forward to greet his 'friend.'

"It's good to see you too Dawn. I'm beginning to think you're stalking me though."

She snorted. "Please. Like I would stalk you of all people."

"Well, seeing that we bump into each completely by chance way too often doesn't help you."

She rolled her eyes. "Aren't we supposed to _friends;_ you know, now that you're married to May?"

Drew shrugged. "Yeah…I guess we are." He smirked. "I still think you're annoying though."

"Good," she said with a smile. "Because I still think you're a huge jerk."

He gave her a grin. "To be honest, I wouldn't have it any other way."

They stayed quiet for a moment. Drew looked Dawn over, remembering what May had told him about her nearly two years ago…about how she had been pregnant. And, nearly a year earlier, May had revealed that Dawn had miscarried. Apparently, she'd recently told her boyfriend that it wasn't his baby she was pregnant with all those months back. Drew looked her in the eyes, trying to figure the girl before him out a bit better. True she was annoying…then again, she was the one that convinced him to search for May in the Jhoto region, nearly seven years before. Drew shook his head, finally realizing just how long ago everything had been. _Seven _years ago…he shuddered, suddenly realizing he'd known May for nearly fourteen years. And, it took him nearly eight to figure out just how much she meant to him…

"If you hurt her…"

"Jeez Dawn!" Drew exclaimed in disbelief. "That's a conversation I'm supposed to have with her _father."_

Dawn shrugged. "Just making sure." Her eyes lit up as she suddenly remembered something. "Hey, you guys going to Ash's and Misty's wedding?"

Drew sighed, remembering he'd gotten the invitation in the mail days before. "Yeah; well, I guess we sort of have to. They were at ours."

Dawn gave Drew a smile, and bit her lip, as if she was trying to say something. "I guess I should thank you."

"For what?"

Dawn smiled. "I wasn't sure if you'd really go to Jhoto like I told you to…but you did. Even more so, you're now May's _husband_." She laughed, muttering the word _husband _under her breath. "I guess what I'm trying to say…well, thanks for everything."

Drew shrugged, trying not to seem flattered. "You're the one that convinced me to find her. If anything, I should be thanking _you."_

Dawn blushed and shook her head. "No, Drew. I didn't convince you; you did. That was all you; all I did was remind you of what was really important."

Drew was taken aback by Dawn's words; he wasn't quite sure how to respond. He just gulped, and said, "thanks for reminding me then."

She stifled a laugh, and stayed quiet for a minute. Eight years ago, the girl had been annoying the crap out of him at the Mulberry City Pokémon center back in the Kanto region. Now, here he was; thanking her.

"So. Friends?" he asked quietly.

Dawn awed him skeptically, but decided not to push it. She extended her arm, and he shook her hand willingly. "Yeah…something like that."

Drew nodded, figuring that would be enough. Dawn checked her Pokétch for the time, and sighed.

"Shit," she muttered, looking back at Drew. "I was supposed to get those packages ten minutes ago…" she gave Drew a nod, motioning towards the door. "I better go."

Drew smiled, giving her a nod. "See you later bitch."

She rolled her eyes. "Same here, ass."

With that and a wave, Dawn left the Pokémon center, tossing her hair as she walked out. Drew just shook his head, hoping that would be the last of his random encounters with Dawn. Something told him he wouldn't be so lucky.

He laughed under his breath. So much had changed; then again, over the stretch of nearly _ten _years, he couldn't say he was surprised. In a way, although Dawn annoyed the crap out of him, he was glad he'd met her. Despite her modesty, it was _her _that had first made him really open his eyes and realize he had to stop counting on his pride if he ever wanted to be happy. Up until maybe twenty minutes before, he hadn't realized it; now though, he did. Sure, Solidad made him see just how much he loved May…but, it was really Dawn who showed him that his pride wouldn't get him anywhere. And, despite how much she annoyed him, Drew couldn't say he hated Dawn. So, sure, he married May, and that just about made him the happiest man on the planet.

But really, it was Dawn that gave him his happily-ever-after.

A/N: Ack! It's almost here! One last chapter until the story ends…

So, for the last chapter, go and forgive someone who you've been holding a grudge against for a while. Cut them some slack.

Reviews are greatly loved. Oh, and be sure to check out my Fictionpress account (Resabelzia) if you want to see more of my writing.

-Vikki


	23. Notes and Roses

3

A/N: Ack! The final (real) chapter! Oh gosh, I think I'm going to cry…

-Vikki

Notes and Roses

All in all, it had been a pretty long day for May.

A little over ten years ago was when it had all started, a week after May's fourteenth birthday. And, here she was, ten years later, with the same person by her side, at the same dock, in the same place. Just like last time, they'd been talking about contests; how powerful Solidad was, how ridiculous Harley could be…everything. And, just like before, May had the note clutched in her hand.

"Brock and _Solidad?"_ May scoffed, not able to believe the words coming out of Drew's mouth. "No; no way is that true."

Drew brushed his hair away from his face; unlike before, his hand was in hers. "I just got off videophone with Solidad earlier today; the engagement's official."

May shook her head, not able to believe what Drew was saying. "Married?"

"Yeah…he's gone back to his old ways, I guess."

May nodded; she'd heard the story of how Brock had changed once Solidad had rejected him. "First Ash and Misty, now Brock and Solidad…" she laughed. "Is _everyone _getting married?"

Drew smiled. "Well…Solidad and Brock are almost thirty-two. So, I guess time had gotten the best of them."

May laughed. "It's only a matter of time before we see Dawn and Max go down the aisle…"

"Dun, dun-dun dunnn," Drew hummed quietly. May playfully hit his shoulder; the charm bracelet that Brock had give her for her seventeenth birthday dangled on her wrist. Only this time though, a new charm had been added; a wedding dress charm.

"Harley must be devastated about Solidad getting married," Drew muttered. May shook her head.

"He'll get over it, believe me…" she smiled, remembering what Ash had told her. "Did you know that Team Rocket is back in Ash's life?"

Drew turned to May in disbelief. "What?"

"It's true," May said with a smirk.

Drew shook his head. "Team rocket hasn't bugged him since Dawn left them…why are they back all of the sudden?"

May shrugged. "Well, Ash is back on the road again, and Misty's with him. Something about it not being the same when the carrot-top wasn't traveling with him…they got bored of the change of twerpettes."

Drew laughed. "So, you and Dawn didn't pass the twerp test?"

May sighed, pretending to be sad. "No…I guess not."

Drew put his arm around her, just as he had many times before. He slowly reached into his bag, and pulled out a single red rose.

"I thought I'd go back to my old ways," he said softly, handing the rose to her. She smiled, holding it.

"Let me guess; it's for Beautifly?"

He laughed. "Completely and totally."

She grasped it in her hand. "I'll be sure to give it to her."

Drew laughed again, leaning in and kissing her. May felt her heart flutter, just as it always had. She gave him a peck on the cheek after that. Trembling, she reached into the waistband of her skirt and grasped a piece of paper in her hands. She slowly unfolded it, holding it up in the dimming light for Drew to read.

"Drew," she said softly, placing the note in his hand. He looked at her, confused.

"May…what exactly is this?" he whispered in awe, as he unfolded the note. May nodded.

_"May—I know what you're thinking. We've all seen it before, and we know you have it in you. So stick to that.- Drew," _May recited. Despite the quiver in her voice, there wasn't an ounce of hesitation in any word she spoke. In shock, Drew read the words of the note, and looked back at May, not able to believe what had just happened.

"May…"

"I memorized the note the day you gave it to me," she whispered, putting her hand in his. She laughed. "I still remember it."

Drew shook his head. "How do you still have it?"

May blushed, sighing. "It meant a lot to me," she said quietly. She smiled and laughed. "I kept it around whenever I needed something to remind me of you."

He brushed a lock of May's hair away from her face, his voice breaking as he spoke. "I'll always be with you May; I promise. You don't need notes and roses to remind me of you."

He leaned in and kissed her on the lips, just as he had the first time; soft at first, but more powerful as it went on. And, again, it all clicked; everything. May finally was able to realize just how much she loved Drew; she loved him so much, it would be impossible to ever know the real extent. Even when they'd first met and back when they were ten, she'd always felt a sort of connection…and now, here she was, as his wife, nearly fourteen years later.

"Drew," she gasped. Drew pulled back, and gave her a smile.

"I love you," he said, kissing her on the forehead.

May smiled, biting her lip. "Both of us love you too."

Drew looked at May in confusion. "What are you…" his eyes trailed down May's body, and then he stopped as he saw her clutching her lower abdomen. He put May's words together with May's actions; _"both of us love you too"…_

"Oh my god," he whispered, realizing what was going on. He laughed, his entire face brightening. "May! When did you—"

"I found out a few days ago," she said, smiling. "I was waiting for the right time to tell you."

Drew held his head in his hands, not able to believe what was happening. He felt water come to his eyes as he was finally able to comprehend what had been going on.

"Jesus Christ," he blubbered, suddenly finding himself sobbing. He turned to May, a smile evident on his face. "Jesus, May!" He laughed, and pulled her towards him, kissing her yet again. She laughed, smashing her lips against his, yet being careful not to disrupt her lower abdomen.

In the last moments of the sunset, just before the sun went down when their lips were still locked, a few things came to May's mind. She was in love with Drew; she had been since the day they had met. She wouldn't bear to be with anyone else; ever. She would never be happy if she had to spend even one _day _with another man. The only man's face she would ever see was Drew. And, she was pretty sure the only girl's face Drew would ever see again would be May's. Though they'd already gotten married, they had yet another thing—or, person, rather—to tie them together even more than they already were. And, now that May looked at it, Drew was right.

She didn't need Notes and Roses…but they were always nice to keep around.

A/N:

Final author's note will be posted on the eighth. Those who review the final chapter get a special mention.


	24. A Word from the Author

_**Attention to all readers!**_

I have a special announcement in regards to _Notes and Roses—_I've decided to go ahead with my Christmas special idea. I never really planned on writing anything else _Notes and Roses _related, but there's been some talk about a sequel. First and foremost, I'm going to tell you upfront that I am _not _planning on writing a sequel, due to the fact that there's no need for one—there's nothing to write about. And, though I know the Christmas special won't compensate for an entire full-blown sequel, I don't feel I could do anymore than a simple scene in their future life well. This will, therefore, be my Christmas gift to you and something to commemorate the one year anniversary of the publication of the story.

Though I know author's notes technically aren't allowed as chapters, I figured I would take the risk of having the story reported. Just for you, my lovely readers. Feel special :D

Love,

Vikki

PS. For those of you that have not already, please check out _Frostbite! _As far as reviews go, the story could use some TLC. I'll be updating that much more frequently as it is anyway.


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